Same-Day Discharge for Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy

Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy has provided advantages of decreased postoperative pain and length of stay when compared to the open approach. We provide our results of same-day discharge for laparoscopic donor nephrectomy.

We examined the safety and efficacy of same-day discharge for laparoscopic donor nephrectomy in a retrospective cohort analysis. This institutional review board-approved study began in July 2015, when all consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic donor nephrectomy were offered same-day discharge. Experimental and control groups were analyzed for differences in sex, age, body mass index, surgery time, estimated blood loss, procedure, complications, length of stay, and distance lived from hospital. Statistical analyses were completed with Mann-Whitney U or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate.

Eight patients underwent laparoscopic donor nephrectomy during the study period. Of the 8 donors, 4 were discharged on the same day as surgery. The other 4 were discharged the following day. No significant differences were found between the 2 groups with respect to the aforementioned variables. At a median follow-up of 206 days, no complications have been reported.

The results of our pilot study revealed that same-day discharge is safe and feasible, could have a significant impact on patient satisfaction and healthcare costs, and warrants further study.