Robotic-Assisted Laparoscopic Left Donor Nephrectomy for Living Kidney Donation
Srilakshmi Atthota, MBBS; Jessica Grasso, PA-C; Leigh Anne Dageforde, MD, MPH
Massachusetts General Hospital
Kidney transplantation is the preferred treatment for patients with end-stage renal disease and is associated with a better quality of life and survival compared to other renal replacement therapies. Compared to deceased donor kidneys, living donor kidney donation is associated with shorter wait times, improved patient and graft survival, and the possibility of preemptive transplantation.
After the initial learning curve, robotic-assisted living donor nephrectomy has similar outcomes compared to open and laparoscopic nephrectomy, and in some settings an overall decreased length of stay. This article presents the case of a robotic-assisted living donor nephrectomy, including evaluation, technique, and considerations for the surgeon preoperatively and intraoperatively.
Left Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy
Shoko Kimura, MD; Tatsuo Kawai, MD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Over the past decade, laparoscopic donor nephrectomy has gradually replaced the conventional open approach and has become the standard of care in living donor kidney transplantations. Compared to open nephrectomy, laparoscopic nephrectomy reduces postoperative pain, shortens the length of hospital stay, and improves the cosmetic outcome. This article illustrates the author’s technique of pure laparoscopic donor nephrectomy.
Here’s a limerick you may enjoy (and a link to our donor nephrectomy).
On the day of Saint Patty, you’ll opt
For a drink you’ll make sure is unslopped,
But if you do not slow,
You’ll now know where to go –
Where to watch an old kidney be swapped.
-Alexis Drake, Journal’s Occasional Metrist of Infirmary
Left Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy
Massachusetts General Hospital
Tatsuo Kawai, MD, PhD
Extraction of donor kidneys is transitioning from an open to a laparoscopic procedure. Professor of Surgery Dr. Tatsuo Kawai walks us through this minimally invasive technique.
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