Objective: To review a single-institution experience with retroperitoneal laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy (RLDN).
Methods: Fifty-eight donors underwent RLDN at our institution (including 32 male and 26 female donors aged 20-61 years, mean 42 years). Left nephrectomy was performed in 56 cases. The first 35 patients underwent total RLDN, and the latter 23 received modified RLDN.
Results: RLDN was performed successfully in all the patients without conversion to open surgery. The mean surgical time was 93 min (range 70-130 min), and the mean blood loss was 20 ml (range 10-50 ml), with a mean warm ischemia time of 2.8 min (1.3-6 min). Retroperitoneal hematoma occurred postoperatively in one case. The mean hospital stay of the donors was 6.4 days (5-10 days). Two recipients showed delayed graft function, and one graft was lost because of acute rejection. The other recipients had normal renal function in two weeks except for 3 having normal renal function in 4 weeks.
Conclusion: RLDN is a safe procedure with minimal invasiveness, and the modified RLDN lowers the learning curve of the surgery.