Surgical outcomes of renal allograft donors with complex renal vasculature. A cross-sectional retrospective study at the National Kidney Transplantation Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Introduction: Donors with complex renal vascular anatomy are currently selected for donation as 'extended donor criterion'. Carefully selecting these donors increases the availability of kidneys, while the donor safety should be considered. Aim of the research: The present study is aimed at evaluating the incidence of complex renal vascular anatomy in live donor nephrectomy and its implications for the immediate surgical outcome of the nephrectomy procedure among kidney donors presenting to the National Kidney Transplantation Centre, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Material and methods: An institution-based cross-sectional study was performed via a retrospective review of the charts of kidney donors who had undergone donor nephrectomy at the transplantation centre between 2015 and 2020. Statistical analysis was done using the chi-square test for categorical data and the independent t test for continuous data; p < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results are presented in text, tables, and graphs. Results: Donors with complex renal vasculature had a significantly longer warm ischaemia time (5.48 vs. 4.83 min) and operation time (149 vs. 128 min). No significant differences were found in estimated blood loss, complication rate, reoperations, length of postoperative hospital stay, and readmission. In the present study 28.3% of donor nephrectomies had complex renal vascular anatomy. We have found no significant difference in most of the evaluated parameters that would impact a donor's outcome. Conclusions: According to the results of this study, living donor nephrectomy from complex renal vascular donors is a safe procedure.