Audit of an initial 100 cases of laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy

The objective of this study was to analyze variables related to the surgical technique and postoperative evolution of kidney donors.

This retrospective analysis describes 100 laparoscopic nephrectomies from living donors performed in our hospital between February 2002 and July 2007. The variables were age, family relationship, surgical time, warm ischemia time, hospital stay, oral feeding resumption, morphine use, return to work, and complications.

The average age of the donors was 49.5 years and their male:female ratio was 1:2. The left kidney was extracted from 82% of patients. The warm ischemia time was 2.5 minutes (range = 1.09-5.10). There was only one case of multiple vessels. The surgical time was 149.5 minutes (range = 80-255). The mean hospital stay was 4.8 days (range = 1-18). Food intake was resumed after 24 hours, with morphine needed for 0.9 days. The time to return to work was 39 days (range = 7-120). The complications included kidney rupture (n = 1), liver tear (n = 1), hematoma (n = 6), including four requiring blood transfusions; fever and leukocytosis (n = 5) and one collection. No patients died as a result of the surgery.

Living-donor laparoscopic nephrectomy constitutes the gold standard among surgical options.