Early experience with robotically assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy

The da Vinci robotic system became available at our institution in late August 2000. We decided to use this system to perform robotically assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomies. A prospective study was conducted of 10 consecutive patients who underwent robotically assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy between January and May 2001. The mean operative time was 166 minutes. The mean hospital stay was 1.8 days. The need for parenteral pain medication was limited to the first postoperative day. All kidneys were transplanted successfully; no rejections occurred. This early experience suggests that the results of robotically assisted laparoscopic donor nephrectomy are similar to those of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy. We believe that robotic surgery, which enables regaining of the hand-eye coordination and three-dimensional view lost in laparoscopic surgery, allows us to perform the donor nephrectomy with greater precision, confidence, and comfort.