Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this single center study was to determine if the outcomes after kidney transplant were influenced by side of kidney donation and/or side of implantation (left versus right).
Materials and methods: All kidney transplantations in our department from June 1993 to November 2015 were included. Data was prospectively gathered and used for analysis. Serum creatinine of postoperative days during hospitalization and then at follow up visits was used for determination of kidney function.
Results: A total of 3334 transplantations were investigated during the study period. Mean serum creatinine was highest at the 3^rd postoperative day and gradually decreased to 1.4 ± 0.7 mg/dl in the 3^rd postoperative month and remained rather stable up to 12 months after transplantation. Recipients’ 7^th day postoperative creatinine for right donated kidneys were 1.99 ± 1.80 mg/dL and 1.63 ± 1.64 for left donated kidneys (p<0.001). Recipients’ 7^th day postoperative creatinine from right donated kidneys were 1.85 ± 1.49 mg/dL when donated kidneys were implanted in the right side of the recipients versus 2.17 ± 2.10 mg/dL when donated kidneys were implanted in the left side of the recipients (p=0.05). This statistically significant difference was no longer observed in the 1^st month after operation and thereafter. Complications in recipients according to the Clavien-Dindo categories of 0, 2, 3b, 4a, 4b and 5 were observed in 89, 0, 1.1, 7.8, 0.6 and 1.7% of left implantations and 93, 0.3, 0.8, 2.7, 0.8, and 2.3% of right implantations (p=0.54)
Conclusion: Our data suggest that side of donor or recipient surgery in kidney transplantation is not important in one year follow-up. One-week outcome of right donor kidneys were inferior to left donated kidneys. Also one year complications for side of donation or transplantation were not significantly different.

Keywords: Kidney transplantation; Kidney donor side; Deceased donor; Living donor; Kidney recipient side