Ligation of the external iliac artery for post-transplant nephrectomy bleeding.

Introduction Human cadaver kidneys are usually transplanted to the iliac fossa. The donor renal artery is anastomosed either end-to-end to the recipient internal iliac artery or, especially if there is more than one renal artery, an aortic patch from the donor vessel is sutured end-to-side to the recipient external iliac artery. If this patch method is used and the kidney rejects, the kidney is removed by ligating and dividing the donor artery and vein leaving the donor patch behind. Rarely, the residual patch may be weakened, by infection at the suture line or by rejection. Two cases of major bleeding from such a cause are reported here.