[Surgical technique for laparoscopic kidney donation]

Dialysis cannot fully replace kidney function in patients diagnosed with end-stage renal disease. Patients undergoing dialysis therapy show a significantly reduced quality of life, morbidity and mortality compared to healthy individuals. Every patient diagnosed with end-stage renal disease should be evaluated for a potential kidney transplant, potentially by means of living-donor kidney donation.

Via living-donor kidney donation, patients diagnosed with end-stage renal disease can receive a kidney transplant already before dialysis therapy needs to be initiated. Those patients show a significantly improved long-term graft and patient survival in comparison to patients transplanted after cadaveric organ donation.

We here describe the evaluation process of living-donor kidney donation and the procedure of transperitoneal laparoscopic donor-nephrectomy.

Although technically demanding, laparoscopic donor nephrectomy after careful donor evaluation is a safe procedure. An interdisciplinary medical-surgical management is important for both careful patient selection and life-long aftercare.