Intra- and postoperative complications of donor nephrectomies.
BACKGROUND
Living-donor renal transplantation has become common worldwide. However, living-donor nephrectomy is not a complication-free procedure. This retrospective study reviews the intra-and postoperative risks and complications of donor nephrectomies at our institution between 1994 and 2002.


METHODS
Two hundred fifty-seven consecutive donor nephrectomy patients were evaluated using medical records and anesthetic charts.


RESULTS
The mean age of living donors was 42 +/- 12 years: 19 were older than 61 years, and 143 (55.6%) were women. Anesthesia for donor nephrectomy included general anesthesia, combined spinal-epidural anesthesia (CSE), general + CSE, and general + epidural anesthesia. We observed 51 intra- and postoperative complications in 26 patients. The minor complication rate was 10.1%. The duration of surgery was 3.56 +/- 0.26 hours (range, 2 to 5 hours). Serum creatinine levels were increased significantly (P < .05) on postoperative days 1, 3, and 5 compared with the preoperative levels (P < .05). There was no mortality.


CONCLUSIONS
Like other surgical operations, living-donor nephrectomy is associated with intra- and postoperative complications. Although these complications are minor, maximal efforts must be applied in the anesthetic approach to minimize donor complications, and donors should be informed about potential risks.
Torgay
A
A
Başkent University School of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Ankara, Turkey. adnant@baskent-ank.edu.tr
Donmez
A
A
Varol
G
G
Durmaz
L
L
Arslan
G
G
Haberal
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000379:methods; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009392:Nephrectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*
D003404:Creatinine