Live kidney donor: surgical aspect and outcome

Abstract

There is evidence that delayed graft function and acute rejection, can adversely influence not only the short-term but also long-term graft survival. Obviously, the risk of delayed graft function is considerably lower in living-donor transplants than in cadaver transplants. Also, the incidence of acute rejection is lower, not only in living-related transplants with a good human leukocyte antigen (HLA) match but even in living-unrelated transplants. The aim of this review was to evaluate the surgical procedures applied in live kidney donor transplantation and their outcomes with regards to global best practices. We searched for studies that reported on living kidney transplantation and kidney donor, surgical aspect and Outcome, from inception till 2018, and we preferred articles that were published in English. The following electronic databases were used: PubMed, Science Direct, Medline, Embase, Google Scholar and Cochrane database. Living kidney donor transplantation is better than kidney transplantation from a deceased donor because the transplanted kidney becomes active and functional immediately after transplantation, whereas in transplants derived from deceased donors, the reverse is usually the case due to shorter ischemic time by minimal ischemic damage of the allograft. The surgical procedures applied in live kidney donor transplantation, are constantly undergoing modification inorder to minimize postoperative complications, improve treatment outcomes and enhance patient's quality of life.