Living donors for renal transplantation. The surgical procedure

The living donation of kidneys is gaining importance as a possible way to g ive a transplant to patients with terminal renal insufficiency. However we do not yet have experience with all the possibilities arising from this met hod. In particular, there is caution caused by the risks of the donor opera tion. In this context, the method is discussed according to the literature and our own experience of 89 living kidney donations. In our own practice w ith living donations, we have a success rate with 96% after 4 years and 82% after 16 years. We observed complications including wound infections (10.7 %), haemorrhage, hernia and neurological complications (each 2.7%). When pe rformed by specialists, the donor operation is safe and is a responsible al ternative to the transplantation of cadaver kidneys, which opens up new pos sibilities in these times of organ shortage.