Intra-Abdominal Cooling System Limits Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury During Robot-Assisted Renal Transplantation

Robot-assisted kidney transplantation is feasible; however, concerns have been raised about possible increases in warm ischemia times. We describe a novel intra-abdominal cooling system to continuously cool the kidney during the procedure. Porcine kidneys were procured by standard open technique. Groups were as follows: Robotic renal transplantation with (n = 11) and without (n = 6) continuous intra-abdominal cooling and conventional open technique with intermittent 4°C saline cooling (n = 6). Renal cortex temperature, magnetic resonance imaging, and histology were analyzed. Robotic renal transplantation required a longer anastomosis time, either with or without the cooling system, compared to the open approach (70.4 ± 17.7 min and 74.0 ± 21.5 min vs. 48.7 ± 11.2 min, p-values < 0.05). The temperature was lower in the robotic group with cooling system compared to the open approach group (6.5 ± 3.1°C vs. 22.5 ± 6.5°C; p = 0.001) or compared to the robotic group without the cooling system (28.7 ± 3.3°C; p < 0.001). Magnetic resonance imaging parenchymal heterogeneities and histologic ischemia-reperfusion lesions were more severe in the robotic group without cooling than in the cooled (open and robotic) groups. Robot-assisted kidney transplantation prolongs the warm ischemia time of the donor kidney. We developed a novel intra-abdominal cooling system that suppresses the noncontrolled rewarming of donor kidneys during the transplant procedure and prevents ischemia-reperfusion injuries.