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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.

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Sept. 11, 2018
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References
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  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.

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