Robot-assisted renal transplantation in the retroperitoneum.
Minimally invasive surgery for renal transplantation is still under development. We employed the robotic surgical system to perform renal transplantation with a minimally invasive wound. The operation was performed with a Gibson incision and two working ports. The space for the transplantation was created by retroperitoneal dissection with the robot lifting the abdominal wall. Vascular reconstruction was performed with two robotic needle drivers. We successfully performed robot-assisted renal transplantation in five female and five male patients with an average wound length of 7.7 ± 1.04 cm. Nine of the renal allografts functioned immediately, but one with prolonged warm ischemia during the live donor nephrectomy had delayed function. The average creatinine level and estimated glomerular filtration rate at discharge were 1.31 ± 0.31 mg/dl and 58.2 ± 8.1 ml/min, respectively. All the transplants are currently functioning at 6.9 ± 3.9 months after operations. In conclusion, with robot assistance, minimal invasive renal transplantation can be performed successfully in the retroperitoneum.
Department of Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan.
Meng-Kun
MK
Tsai
Chih-Yuan
CY
Lee
Ching-Yao
CY
Yang
Chi-Chuan
CC
Yeh
Rey-Heng
RH
Hu
Hong-Shiee
HS
Lai
D000328:Adult; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016030:Kidney Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012187:Retroperitoneal Space / Q000601:surgery; D065287:Robotic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*
kidney; robot; transplantation