Microvascular reconstructive "bench" surgery for donor kidneys before transplantation: techniques and results

Forty kidneys (10 from live donors) with either multiple renal arteries or damaged vasculature were reconstructed accurately ex vivo with microsurgical techniques before transplantation. The end product in all cases was a kidney requiring a single arterial and venous in situ anastomosis. The warm ischemia time was minimized by this adjunctive "bench" microsurgery. There was no surgical complication relating to the vascular reconstruction. The potential technical and hemodynamic benefits of this surgical approach to kidneys with multiple vessels are discussed. In addition, some kidneys with damaged vasculature can be salvaged for transplantation with microvascular reconstruction.