Subsequent publications59,60 from the US demonstrate that, in some centres, 20–30% of donors have a BMI > 30 kg/m2 and data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network/United DZNeP supplier Network for Organ Sharing (OPTN/UNOS) registry suggest that from 7/2004 to 12/2005, 13% of US donors had a BMI > 30 kg/m2. There are data to suggest that acceptance of obese donors is also increasing in Australia.61 Preliminary data from the ANZ live donor registry presented in 2007 at the ANZSN ASM, suggest that 16% of donors from 2004–2006 had a

BMI of between 30 and 35 kg/m2 and 2.3% had a BMI > 35 kg/m2. Assessment of living donors involves both the assessment of early risk associated with perioperative morbidity and mortality and long-term risk, predominantly associated with the risk of future kidney disease. Retrospective analysis of a US healthcare registry62 using discharge data for 3074 patients from 28 centres identified comorbidities and complications using ICD-9-CM coding data. Obesity was associated with an increased risk of overall complication rate (OR 1.92, 95% CI 1.06–3.46), however, numbers were too small to assess the impact of obesity on the incidence of major complications, and the study was not able to discriminate between

open and laparoscopic nephrectomy. Similar results have been reported from a number of single centre studies, demonstrating an increase in minor complications in obese donors for both open and laparoscopic nephrectomy Galeterone (see Table 3).59,63,64 Selleckchem Apoptosis Compound Library Complications are predominantly wound related and include wound infection, seroma and hernias. The rates of wound infection approach 10% in the obese compared with 2% in normal weight donors. Operative time is longer in obese patients

– with increases ranging from 10 to 41 min, but no increase in length of hospital stay is reported.59,63,65,66 Nor is there any reported increase in delayed graft function in the recipient. Numbers are small and results relating to conversion from laparoscopic to open procedure are mixed, with some studies reporting no difference59,67 and others66 reporting increased conversion in obese men. They also commented that the perinephric distribution of fat in obese men increased the technical difficulty. There is a consistent pattern of greater blood loss and increased transfusion requirements in obese patients, which is not significant in each of the single centre studies due to small numbers.63,66–69 In addition, laparoscopic donor nephrectomy has been a relatively new technique and there may have been an increased complication rate in the more technically challenging obese patients as part of the learning curve. Rhabdomyolysis is a rare complication of donor nephrectomy. Sporadic case reports of rhabdomyolysis in donors are characterized by the following risk factors – long operative time, laparoscopic procedure and high BMI.