Renal Autotransplantation; Case Series

Plain-language summary

Renal autotransplantation (RAT) is a method of removing a kidney from its place of origin in a patient, repairing it, and transplanting it in another location of the body, generally the iliac fossa of the same patient.RAT is a relatively new technique; the first ever RAT procedure in the US was performed in 1963. Advances in preservation and transplantation techniques have made RAT a modality that can be utilized in complex renal diseases. RAT is indicated for conditions such as renal vascular disease, nutcracker syndrome, pelvic venous congestion, pelvic trauma, refractory stone disease and, in some cases, loin pain hematuria syndrome and conventionally unresectable renal tumors. Irrespective of the excellent outcomes shown by RAT, the conventional open approach requires a large midline xiphoid-to-pubis or flank incision for donor nephrectomy with a second pelvic incision for renal transplantation into the iliac fossa.The current gold standard approach to RAT is a laparoscopic nephrectomy followed by open auto-transplantation. However, this approach still requires a large pelvic incision. Robotic technology enables us to perform more complex minimally invasive surgery. Gordon et al. performed and reported the first completely intracorporeal robotic RAT to repair a ureteral injury in 2014.

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