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The Australian kidney paired donation program adopted the principles of within-chain simultaneous live donor surgery and of organ transport, with the requirement of keeping cold ischemia time (CIT) to12 h. Whether these principles could be adhered to and what impact on transplant outcome they might have is unknown.We evaluated the logistic challenges and outcomes of the first 100 kidney transplants performed in the Australian kidney paired donation program.Within 4 years, 17 donor surgeons at 12 centres were involved in 37 chain exchange surgeries. Sixteen kidneys were transplanted at the same hospital and 84 required transport to the recipient hospital. Mean (±SD) within chain anaesthetic induction time variability was 8 ± 18 min and mean individual surgeon operating time was 115 ± 44 min. In two cases, delays during donor surgery resulted in increased CIT by 1 h because of deferred transport. CIT was 2.6 ± 0.6 h for non-shipped and 6.8 ± 2.8 h for shipped kidneys, four kidneys had CIT of 12-14 h. Immediate allograft function was observed in 85% of recipients, with no difference between shipped and non-shipped kidneys. There were only two cases of delayed graft function requiring temporary dialysis; both had CIT7 h. There was no difference in serum creatinine at 1 month between non-shipped and shipped kidneys (105 ± 26 versus 112 ± 50 µmol/L) and allograft survival at 1 year was 97%.The study provided a favourable audit of kidney transplant activity, despite challenges of simultaneous surgery, organ transport coordination and prolonged CIT. The decision to ship donor kidneys rather than the donor was demonstrated to be feasible and safe.

The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of the right donor kidney and multiple arteries, on donor and recipient outcomes in the era of laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy (LLDN).e retrospectively analysed the 200 donors and recipients who underwent a planned laparoscopic nephrectomy at two hospitals between September 1998 and December 2006. The impact of donor right kidney and multiple donor renal arteries on operative time, hospital stay, graft function, and donor and recipient complications were analysed.Of the total cohort (n=200), 140 (70%) were classified as Simple LLDN (left live donor kidney with single renal artery). The Complex LLDN group (n=60) contained all right-sided kidney (n=28) and left-sided kidneys with multiple renal arteries (n=32). Baseline characteristics, extraction time, conversion to open, length of admission, overall graft function and complication rates were similar between the simple and complex groups. The second warm ischaemic time in the Simple LLDN group was slightly shorter than the Complex LLDN group (32 versus 36 min P=0.016). The 1-month post-operative recipient serum creatinine level was lower in the Simple LLDN group when compared with the Complex LLDN group (117 versus 125 µmol/L P=0.025). There was no difference in post op dialysis, acute rejection within 3 months or graft survival between the Simple and Complex LLDN groups.Laparoscopic procurements of right kidneys and kidneys with multiple arteries were safe and yielded kidneys with excellent function comparable with those of laparoscopic left donor nephrectomy with single artery.