Selective pre-transplant nephrectomy: indications and perioperative management

From May 1977 to June 1983, 198 patients were accepted as candidates for renal transplantation at our university. We review our experience with 14 consecutive patients who underwent selective pre-transplant nephrectomy during this interval. Indications for this procedure included recurrent or chronic pyelonephritis, structural abnormalities of the urinary tract predisposing the patient to infection, malignant or renin-dependent hypertension, Goodpasture's disease, certain cases of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis and selected patients with polycystic kidneys. All patients underwent dialysis 1 day preoperatively. Perioperative fluid losses were measured carefully with prompt and vigorous replacement therapy. Patients received an average of 5,890 cc fluid replacement before postoperative dialysis. All patients underwent dialysis within 29 hours postoperatively. There were no postoperative deaths and 8 complications. Selective pre-transplant nephrectomy has spared 93 per cent of potential renal transplant candidates from a major surgical procedure. No patient has required removal of the original kidneys during the post-transplant period. Our experience has shown that the reluctance to hydrate these patients is unwarranted and that prompt postoperative dialysis, if required, is safe. Since some end stage kidneys are physiologically active and the associated surgical risk is high, pre-transplant nephrectomy should be performed only in carefully selected patients. In contrast to previous reports, which advocated minimal fluid administration and delayed postoperative dialysis, our recent experience indicates that vigorous fluid replacement therapy, carefully monitored with serial vital signs, weights, serum electrolytes and central venous pressure readings, will avert many of the complications encountered previously.