Request an Appointment

Kidney Transplant Program

Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy

Health History Questionnaire

Interested in being a living kidney or liver donor? Start the process by completing a Health History Questionnaire.

Mayo Clinic surgeons are experts in performing minimally invasive surgery to remove a donor's kidney (laparoscopic donor nephrectomy) for a kidney transplant, as an alternative to open surgery.

In laparoscopic donor nephrectomy, surgeons conduct the procedure through one or several small incisions in your abdomen using surgical instruments and a long, thin tube with a camera at the end (laparoscope). A surgeon removes your kidney through the incisions using his or her hand.

After laparoscopic nephrectomy, you may have a quicker recovery, a shorter hospital stay and less pain than after open surgery. Many kidney donors return to their normal activities or job within a few weeks of donating a kidney.

Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic
Jan. 17, 2018
Print
References
  1. Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients. http://www.srtr.org/default.aspx. Accessed April 7, 2016.
  2. U.S. News & World Report. U.S. News Best Hospitals 2015-16. http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/rankings. Accessed Feb. 22, 2016.
  3. Orandi BJ, et al. Kidney transplants from incompatible live donors. New England Journal of Medicine. 2016;374:940.
  4. Riggin EA. Allscripts EPSi. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 5, 2016.
  5. Schinstock CA (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 18, 2014.
  6. Lallas CD, et al. The development of a laparoscopic donor nephrectomy program in a de novo renal transplant program: Evolution of technique and results in over 200 cases. Journal of the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons. 2006;10:135.
  7. Mai ML (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla. April 26, 2016.
  8. Stulak JM, et al. Combined heart and abdominal organ transplantation: Excellent outcomes gained from a unique experience. Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. 2014;33:S278.
  9. Li H, et al. Assessing the efficacy of kidney paired donation — Performance of an integrated three-site program. Transplantation. 2014;98:300.
  10. Cornell LD, et al. Positive crossmatch kidney transplant recipients treated with eculizumab: Outcomes beyond 1 year. American Journal of Transplantation. 2015;15:1293.
  11. Shapiro R, et al. Benefits and complications of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed March 11, 2016.
  12. Polycystic kidney disease. National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases. http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/polycystic/. Accessed March 16, 2016.
  13. Raichlin E, et al. Combined heart and kidney transplantation provides an excellent survival and decreases risk of cardiac cellular rejection and coronary allograft vasculopathy. Transplantation Proceedings. 2011;43:1871.
  14. Heilman RL, et al. Steroid avoidance immunosuppression in low-risk kidney transplant recipients. Transplantation Proceedings. 2005;37:1785.
  15. Jay CL, et al. Reassessing preemptive kidney transplantation in the United States: Are we making progress? Transplantation. 20165;100:1120. http://www.transplantjournal.com. Accessed April 6, 2016.
  16. Bentall A, et al. Five-year outcomes in living donor kidney transplants with a positive crossmatch. American Journal of Transplantation. 2013;13:76.
  17. Prieto M (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. May 11, 2016.
  18. Dharnidharka VR, et al. Kidney transplantation in children. New England Journal of Medicine. 2014;371:549.
  19. Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center. Your child's kidney transplant. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2016.
  20. Kidney transplant team describes current work. Mayovox. 1967;18:24.
  21. Kudva YC (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. March 14, 2016.
  22. Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center. Kidney transplant. Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2013.
  23. Rossi AP, et al. Evaluation of the potential renal transplant recipient. http://www.uptodate.com/home. Accessed April 6, 2016.
  24. Cramer CH II (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. April 27, 2016.
  25. Li H, et al. The limits of paired donation — Who doesn't get transplanted? American Journal of Transplantation. 2013;13(suppl 5). http://www.atcmeetingsabstracts.com/abstract/limits-of-paired-donation-who-doesn’t-get-transplanted-the/. Accessed April 27, 2016.
  26. Crespo HS, et al. Kidney transplantation in the septuagenarian. American Journal of Transplantation. 2015;15(suppl 3). http://www.atcmeetingabstracts.com/abstract/kidney-transplantation-in-the-septuagenarian/. Accessed April 27, 2016.
  27. Taner T, et al. Decreased chronic cellular and antibody-mediated injury in the kidney following simultaneous liver-kidney transplantation. Kidney International. 2016:89:909.

Mayo Clinic in Minnesota has been recognized as the best Nephrology hospital in the nation for 2017-2018 by U.S. News & World Report.

Learn more about this top honor

Kidney Transplant Program

Sections