Robotic-Assistance Does Not Enhance Standard Laparoscopic Technique for Right-Sided Donor Nephrectomy

Objective: To examine donor and recipient outcomes after right-sided robotic-assisted laparoscopic donor ne-phrectomy (RALDN) compared with standard laparo-scopic donor nephrectomy (LDN) and to determine whether robotic-assistance enhances LDN. Materials & Methods: From December 2005 to January 2011, 25 patients underwent right-sided LDN or RALDN. An IRB-approved retrospective review was performed of both donor and recipient medical charts. Primary end-points included both intraoperative and postoperative outcomes. Results: Twenty right-sided LDNs and 5 RALDNs were performed during the study period. Neither estimated blood loss (76.4mL vs. 30mL, P.07) nor operative time (231 min vs. 218 min, P.61) were significantly different between either group (LDN vs. RALDN). Warm ischemia time for LDN was 2.6 min vs. 3.8 min for RALDN (P.44). Donor postoperative serum estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) were similar (53 vs. 59.6mL/min/1.73m2, LDN vs. RALDN, P.26). For the recipient patients, post-transplant eGFR were similar at 6 months (53.4 vs. 59.8mL/min/1.73m2, LDN vs. RALDN, P.53). Conclusion: In this study, robotic-assistance did not im-prove outcomes associated with LDN. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm any perceived benefit of RALDN