Impact of Hand-Assisted Laparoscopic Living Donor Nephrectomy on Donor's Quality of Life, Emotional, and Social State

Abstract

Background Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy has become the preferred method for live kidney donation in many centers. Herein we have reported on donor-related quality of life (QoL) and social state after laparoscopic hand-assisted nephrectomy (HALDN) for living kidney donation. Patients and Methods Between December, 2003 and May, 2008, we performed 48 HALDN. To evaluate QoL, we mailed to the donors a structured questionnaire based on a combination of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire and the 36-item health survey (SF-36) with slight modifications. The QoL scores were compared with data from a matched group of the German healthy population. We evaluated clinical results in donors and recipients by reviewing the records, and calculated 1-year graft survival according to the Kaplan-Meier method. Results In all domains, the QoL scores were higher than those among the normal population. The higher QoL was independent of time since donation. When asked to rate their health at the time of the questionnaire, 91% rated it as good, very good, or excellent, 6% as fair, and 3% as poor. When asked to rate the pain around their scar, 91% rated it as mild or absent: Of the patients, 94% were likely to say that they would donate again, if it were possible. For 6% of the patients the overall experience was stressful. Conclusion HALDN is safe. QoL changes after kidney donation are low and comparable to those of the healthy population.