Chylous ascites following laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy

Kidney transplantation is the optimal replacement therapy for patients with end-stage renal disease. With the advent of safer harvesting techniques and immunosuppression, both donor and recipient outcomes have markedly improved in recent years. Kidney donation from living donors remains the single most important façtor responsible for improving patient and graft survival 1. Laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy (LLDN) was introduced by Ratner et al. in 1995 as a less invasive alternative to the open procedure to increase the number of renal donors 2. This technique is now becoming the gold-standard recovering procedure in transplant centers worldwide and has revolutionized renal transpIantation, allowing expansion of the donor pool by diminishing surgical morbidity while maintaining equivalent recipient outcome 4. However, several studies have reported that this technique requires a long learning curve 5, and that the complication rate varies from 6.4% to 16.5% 6,7. Pervenuto in Redazione Gennaio 2011. Accettato per la pubblicazione Aprile 2011. Correspondence to: Massimiliano Veroux, MD, PhD, Department of Surgical Sciences, Transplantation and Advanced Technologies Vascular Surgery and Organ Transplant Unit, University Hospital, Catania, Italy (e-mail: [email protected]) Massimiliano Gagliano, Pierfrancesco Veroux, Daniela Corona, Matteo Angelo Cannizzaro, Giuseppe Giuffrida, Alessia Giaquinta, Massimiliano Veroux