Testicular complications following renal transplantation.

T HE PROCEDURE first described by Kiiss 4 has become standard technic when a kidney homograft is placed extraperitoneally in the iliac fossa through an inguinal incision.n,lo In most transplantation centers the spermatic cord is divided routinely to facilitate exposure of the iliac vessels and urinary bladder. The prospects for a long postoperative life were so remote in the early years of renal transplantation that considerations of the morbidity from such details of the procedu're were given little attention. This attitude can no longer be justified, now that long-term survival can be expected in the great majority of patients. The development of a hydrocele or testicular atrophy has often been observed on the side of the transplant operation at the University of Colorado and Denver Veterans Administration Hospital. The present study was undertaken to determine the frequency of these and other complications pursuant to division of the spermatic cord and to assess whether division of this structure should still be recommended.