Total laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy: a 6-year experience

Background Since the introduction of the laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy in 1995, attempts have been made to depart from the total laparoscopic approach to the hand-assisted approach to decrease surgical time and complications. We present our 6-year experience with the total laparoscopic approach. Methods Between December 1998 and November 2004 there were 168 total laparoscopic live donor nephrectomies performed at our institution. There were 163 left nephrectomies and 5 right nephrectomies. Results The procedure was performed in a systematic approach. The surgical time deceased from an average of 2:27 hours in the first year to 1:34 hours in the last year of the study. The overall average warm ischemia time was 3.5 minutes. Major bleeding requiring conversion to an open procedure occurred in 2 (1.2%) donors. Minor bleeding that was controlled laparoscopically occurred in 9 (5.4%) donors. Degloving of the renal capsule occurred in 2 (1.2%) donors with no consequences. Minor mesenteric rent occurred in 7 (4.2%) donors. All mesenteric complications were recognized and repaired laparoscopically. No ureteral or bowel injuries occurred. There were no mortalities. Eighty-three percent of donors were discharged the next day. Conclusions Total laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy is safe. It was performed successfully in 98.8% of donors with a short surgical time, low morbidity, and 0% mortality.