Successful Robotic-assisted Laparoscopic Nephrectomy in a Donor with Five Renal Arteries

Santiago Horgan, MD, Garth Jacobsen, MD

Product Details
Product ID: ACS-2280
Year Produced: 2004
Length: 7 min.


Classic approach in donor nephrectomy consists in procurement of the kidney with no anomalies of its vascular supply. We have implemented the policy of routinely harvesting the left kidney regardless of the presence of vascular anomalies to take advantage of the longer length of the left renal vein. In this video we review the technique involved in harvesting a kidney from a donor with five renal arteries. This is a 37 year old otherwise healthy male who underwent robotic-assisted donor nephrectomy for kidney transplantation. The recipient was his 10 year old son, who suffered endstage renal disease secondary to posterior ureteral valves. The patient underwent a preoperative spiral CT scan with 3D reconstruction which demonstrated multiple renal arteries on either side. The left kidney was harvested using a robotic hand assisted technique. At two months post op, the donor and recipient are doing well with satisfactory renal function. As can be seen in this video presentation routine harvesting of the left kidney in robotic-assisted donor nephrectomy is safe and efficacious even in presence of vascular anomalies, and does not affect the outcome in both the recipient and the donor.