Retroperitoneoscopic Living Related-Donor Nephrectomy: Clinical Outcomes of 50 Consecutive Cases and Comparison with Open Donor Nephrectomy

Purpose: To determine whether living related retroperitoneoscopic donor nephrectomy (RDN) is a safe and effective procedure. Patients and Methods: From September 2001 to May 2004, RDN was performed in 50 consecutive patients at our hospital. All patients were followed longitudinally with office visits. Perioperative and postoperative data for these RDNs, including operative time, blood loss, and complications, were compared with those of open donor nephrectomies (ODNs) performed between January 1999 and December 2001. Results: The RDN was completed in all cases. The average warm ischemia times were 4.1 minutes (range 1.0–8.5 minutes) and 3.5 minutes (range 2.3–5.5 minutes) in the RDN and ODN groups, respectively (P = NS). The mean operative time for RDN was significantly longer than that for ODN (P < 0.001), but patients in the RDN group had significantly shorter hospital stays (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the groups in blood loss during operation or number of doses of analgesic...