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Updated: Jun 10, 2026
Single Port Donor Nephrectomy
Published on: March 12, 2011
Hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy in patients with aberrant inferior vena caval anatomy
David van Dellen1, Andrew R Ready, Nicholas G Inston
1Department of Renal Transplantation Surgery, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom. davidvandellen@yahoo.com
Objectives:
Hand-assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy has become an established technique for live-donor organ retrieval. In most cases, the left kidney is removed because of its more favorable anatomic relations, particularly with the major abdominal vessels.
Materials And Methods:
We present 2 cases of live donation in which a hand-assisted laparoscopic approach was used to remove the right kidney as indicated by the presence of aberrant vascular anatomy, 1 being situs inversus totalis, the other a left-sided inferior vena cava.
Results:
A 41-year-old woman and a 51-year-old man underwent assessment for live-kidney donation. During preoperative investigation, they underwent magnetic resonance imaging that demonstrated situs inversus totalis and a left-sided inferior vena cava. No contraindications to live donation were found during the investigation. In both cases, a right donor nephrectomy was performed owing to an anatomically longer right renal vein. Living donation proceeded without complication in both cases, and both patients had uneventful recoveries.
Conclusions:
Abnormalities in vascular anatomy should not be considered an absolute contraindication to donation, even by the hand-assisted laparoscopic donor approach. The use of magnetic resonance scanning preoperatively allows detailed planning of the approach required.
