Delayed Recovery of Renal Function After Donor Nephrectomy.

Area of Science:

• Nephrology
• Transplantation Surgery
• Renal Medicine

Background:

• Living kidney donation carries a risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) post-nephrectomy.
• Delayed renal function recovery is observed in some kidney donors after surgery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate factors associated with delayed renal function recovery in living kidney donors one year after nephrectomy.
• To identify predictors of impaired renal function in this population.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 275 living kidney donors with follow-up creatinine studies up to 3 years post-nephrectomy.
• Analysis of demographic, clinical, and laboratory data including preoperative and post-nephrectomy estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).

Main Results:

• 83 donors (30.2%) had eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m² at 1 year; 57.8% of these showed functional recovery (>5 mL/min/1.73 m² improvement).
• Hypertension history, lower body mass index, and lower preoperative uric acid levels were associated with better eGFR recovery.
• Multivariate analysis identified hypertension history (OR 0.131) and uric acid level (OR 0.641) as significant factors influencing recovery.

Conclusions:

• A significant proportion of living kidney donors develop CKD one year post-nephrectomy, but over half experience functional improvement.
• History of hypertension and elevated preoperative uric acid levels are key predictors of poor renal function recovery.
• These findings underscore the need for close follow-up of kidney donors with these risk factors.