Kidney Transplant Program - Living Donor Information

The Difference a Donor Can Make

Currently, kidneys from a living donor have a better long-term survival rate than kidneys from a deceased donor. Also, deceased kidney donation cannot meet the needs of all patients in this country who need a kidney transplant. The waiting time for a deceased kidney donation may be three to five years. Kidney donations from living relatives have always been a better option. More recently, kidneys donated from unrelated living donors (such as a spouse or a friend) have been as successful as those from close relatives.

Laparoscopic Living Donor Nephrectomy for Kidney Transplantation

The growing shortage of organs available for kidney transplantation has resulted in the increased use of living donors for transplantation.

Nearly all of the 250 transplant centers in the United States perform living donor kidney transplants, usually removing the kidney via a retroperitoneal flank approach, a laparoscopic technique that is superior to the old approach. Using the laparoscope, surgeons make only one small incision below the navel -- about two to three inches -- as well as four small holes through which they insert instruments. The laparoscope contains a miniature camera, and surgeons watch what they are doing on a video monitor. The traditional "open" surgery requires an incision through the abdominal muscles that is about 10 inches long.

Potential benefits of the new approach include less pain, shorter hospitalization, and a rapid return to normal activity. Laparoscopic surgery, therefore, can make donating a kidney to a loved one easier.

Brigham and Women’s Hospital has had tremendous success with this laparoscopic technique, having performed over 300 procedures. Our experience indicates that this procedure not only provides outstanding outcomes, but also provides the most cost-effective strategy to manage end-stage renal disease patients.