Clinical and anatomical substantiation of a novel retrieval technique for effective preservation of kidneys from donors with cardiac arrest

Lack of donor organs is a major obstacle in organ transplantation. Transplantation can be provided to less than 18% of patients who require it. The use of conservative techniques for organs retrieval results in the loss of 1%-5% of donor organs. Current study was aimed at the description and substantiation of an optimal surgical method for retrieval and preservation of kidneys. We analyzed the results of surgical removal and preservation of organs of 198 donors with cardiac arrest performed between December, 2007 and January, 2017. Besides, we present the results of dissection of 48 corpses conduced at the Samara Regional Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination. We have proposed several modifications of the standard technique for preserving the kidneys from a donor with cardiac arrest. The proposed method has been implemented into routine practice, which decreased the frequency of damage to the vascular pedicle and the ureter by three times; the time of kidney removal was reduced from 25 minutes to 17 minutes (in some cases to 12 minutes). The method allowed to decrease the frequency of damage to the kidney pedicle, arteries, ureters, and renal parenchyma (from 12.3% to 1.8%).