FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 26, 1999
Contact: Sarah Ellis (303) 315-5571 [email protected]
Laparoscopic Procedure Shortens Hospital Stay for Living Kidney Donors
A University of Colorado Health Sciences Center transplant team was the first in Colorado to use a new laparoscopic technique to remove a kidney from a living donor. Several transplant procedures have been performed in the past month at University Hospital. In most cases, donor patients are able to go home within 48 hours after surgery.
The standard technique for surgically removing a kidney from a living donor requires an incision on the patient's side, which means cutting through a significant amount of muscle. The laparoscopic procedure involves smaller incisions in the lower abdomen that result in less pain and a shorter recovery period for the patient.
"This new approach to donor surgery will give patients another option to choose from," said Igal Kam, MD, chief of transplant surgery at University Hospital. "Patients who undergo the standard procedure can often take four to six weeks to feel completely back to normal, but with the new laparoscopic technique, the recovery time is shortened to a matter of days."
Several transplant centers in the United States currently use the laparoscopic technique, but this is the first time it has been performed in Colorado. The procedure is selective, and the CU transplant team will offer it as an alternative for qualified kidney donors at both University Hospital and Presbyterian St. Luke's Hospital.
University Hospital is the Rocky Mountain region's only academic tertiary care and referral center. Located in Denver, Colo., the hospital is part of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center campus, one of four campuses in the University of Colorado system.
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