[Surgical aspects of living-donor kidney transplantation]

Laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy has shown less morbidity than the open approach, with less pain and analgesia requirements and allowing a quicker recovery and an earlier return to normal activity. Furthermore, many studies have shown equivalent results between both approaches in terms of graft functions and recipient complications. For these reasons, we can accept laparoscopic kidney living donor nephrectomy as the gold standard surgical technique in these patients. The implementation of this minimally invasive technique in most centers has led to an increase in the rate of this kind of organ procurement, due to its better acceptance by the donors. In order to decide which kidney is better to extract, it is mandatory to maintain the best kidney in the donor. In case equal conditions, it is advisable to perform left nephrectomy.