Single port laparoscopic surgery is changing the standard of care in surgical care like nothing since the laparoscopic technique was introduced 20 years ago. We present out technique of single port donor nephrectomy using the Gelpoint device. We have successfully performed this surgery in 100 patients.
In 2007, Rane presented the first single port nephrectomy for a small non-functioning kidney at the World Congress of Endourology. Since that time, the use of single port surgery for nephrectomy has expanded to include donor nephrectomy. Over the next two years the technique was adopted for many others types of nephrectomies to include donor nephrectomy. We present our technique for single port donor nephrectomy using the Gelpoint device. We have successfully performed this surgery in over 100 patients and add this experience to our experience of over 1000 laparoscopic nephrectomies. With the proper equipment and technique, single port donor nephrectomy can be performed safely and effectively in the majority of live donors. We have found that our operative times and most importantly our transplant outcomes have not changed significantly with the adoption of the single port donor nephrectomy. We believe that single port donor nephrectomy represents a step forward in the care of living donors.
The Single Port Donor Nephrectomy is a viable next step in the evolution of donor nephrectomy. At times, steps in the procedure have to be accomplished out of order due to the challenges inherent in the single port which limits side to side retraction and mobility as discussed in the video. The cosmesis is excellent and patients return to activities very quickly. As the procedure evolves new instruments will be developed that will aide in the accomplishment of more of more and more complex tasks through the single port entry.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
We would like to acknowledge Applied Medical for supporting this work through and unrestricted educational grant which allowed us to produce the video and publish.