Renal transplantation: Laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy

Live donor renal transplantation has many advantages compared to kidneys obtained from cadavers, including greater patient and graft survival. In an effort to decrease disincentives to donors, a laparoscopic approach to renal donation was developed. This surgical route provides donors with less postoperative pain, an optimal cosmetic result and quicker convalescence compared to traditional open removal. Moreover, experience has demonstrated that these gains have been achieved without compromise to the allograft. This article describes our latest techniques and reviews results obtained with laparoscopic donation.