Use of the inferior epigastric artery to revascularize a lower pole renal artery in renal transplant.
The increasing use of living-related donors has increased the incidence wherein the transplant surgeon is required to use special vascular surgical techniques to transplant kidneys with anomalous arterial anatomy. One of the most commonly encountered arterial anomalies is the presence of a lower pole renal artery. In many cases, this artery can be anastomosed to the main renal artery, and the main renal artery can then be anastomosed into the recipient vessel. However, there are cases where the lower pole renal artery is too distant from the main renal artery to allow an anastomosis to be performed. The lower pole renal artery of the graft must be revascularized to avoid ischemic injury to the ureter. Thus, alternate methods for the revascularization of this vessel must be found. We describe the use of the recipient inferior epigastric artery as an arterial supply for the donor lower pole artery. In our case report, this method provided excellent flow to the lower kidney and was documented by later studies.
Department of Surgery, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
J S
JS
Young
M S
MS
Rohr
D000009:Abdominal Muscles / Q000098:blood supply*; D000328:Adult; D001158:Arteries / Q000637:transplantation*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D012077:Renal Artery / Q000601:surgery*