Living kidney donation and possible surgery problems

What are possible problems from a kidney donation surgery?

Living kidney donation has a very low chance of causing problems. This is probably because donors are evaluated so carefully and are only allowed to donate if they have a low chance of problems from surgery.

But living kidney donation is still surgery and uses general anesthesia. Surgery problems can include:

• Pain
• Infection
• Blood loss (which may require blood transfusions)
• Blood clots
• Allergic reactions to anesthesia
• Pneumonia
• Injury to other tissue or organs
• And even death

Laparoscopy causes fewer surgery problems

Laparoscopy is a type of surgery where the surgeon makes 3 or 4 small cuts in your stomach area instead of 1 long cut (which is called open surgery).

Living kidney donors who have laparoscopy will have some pain at first, but compared to donors who have open surgery, they will have:

• Less pain and discomfort
• Less time in the hospital
• An improved scar
• Overall faster recovery after surgery

What are the surgery problem rates?

Several studies have found these rates:

• About 3 out of 100 kidney donors (3%) had surgery problems
• About 2 out of 100 (1.7%) had to go back into the hospital
• 3-4 out of 1,000 donors (0.3%-0.4%) needed another surgery or a blood transfusion
• About 3 in 10,000 donors (.03%) died – this is a small chance

Kidney donors who have laparoscopy have a lower rate of going back into the hospital 1 year after surgery when compared with patients who had similar surgeries, like appendix or gallbladder removal.

Living kidney donation has low rates of problems and re-admissions to the hospital. The medical evaluation is thorough to make sure that people who donate a kidney have a low chance of problems.