More on Minimal Scar Techniques in Living Donors for Kidney Transplant

It is reported that kidney transplant from a living donor, besides of being the best option for young people and those affected by particular conditions, results in increased organ survival. It also solves in part the organ shortage afflicting Spain since the mid-90 despite the high rate of cadaveric donation. According to the National Transplant Organization in 2010 in Spain 240 living donor kidney transplants were made, which represents 11% of the total. This year the expectation is that this number will grow to about 300, which would be almost about 13-15% of the total. Given these data and the need to keep looking for new surgical technologies for the improvement of transplantation procedures, the experience of the minimally invasive surgery team at the IDIBAPS - Hospital Clínic of Barcelona has promoted a new way of improvement in living donor programs.

The work presented today at the Catalan hospital by Dr. Antonio Alcaraz. , IDIBAPS investigator and head of the department of Urology at the very center, and his team, confirm the feasibility of surgical techniques with minimal scars (10 and 5 mm) for the extraction of a kidney applied to transplantation. Creators and pioneers in the application of the NOTES technique (Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopy Surgery), an approach that aims to conduct surgery through natural orifices of the body, the team led by Dr. Alcaraz applies the modified transvaginal (through the vagina) and transumbilical (through the navel) extraction techniques to kidney transplantation. European Urology magazine published the first World Series of kidney donors by transvaginal nephrectomy surgery with the technique developed in our center.

The medical team at Hospital Clínic which has promoted this milestone and held today a press conference, is formed by Dr. Antonio Alcaraz. , head of the Urology department at the Hospital Clínic, Dr. M ª José Ribal. , head of the Uro-Oncology Unit, Dr. Joan Beltran. , head of the anesthesia section at the Institut Clínic of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Institut Clínic of Nephrology and Urology, Dr. Mireia Musquera. , responsible for the Kidney Transplant Surgical Unit, and the nurse Marta Tomás. The meeting included the testimony from two donors, male and female, both of them about 60 years old.



Source-Eurekalert