Abstract

Background: Despite the popularity of kidney transplantation in the current era, second and third kidney transplantation are not yet widely accepted and practiced. Each center has its own regulations and experiences and there is no accepted protocol for third kidney transplantation. We report here our 15 years of experience with third kidney transplantation. Methods: This is a report of all the third kidney transplantations performed in Baqiyatallah Hospital, Tehran, Iran, between 1991 and 2006. Demographic data, surgical techniques, complications and outcomes are reported. Results: Of the nine third kidney transplant patients, six were male. The median age was 43 years ( 32-52). All of the patients received kidney from living donors. All operations were performed by a midline incision and the grafts were placed at the midline, in the intraperitoneal space. For arterial anastomosis, we used internal iliac, right common iliac and both the right external iliac and inferior mesenteric artery in 4, 4 and 1 case( s), respectively. For venous anastomosis, we used vena cava, common iliac and external iliac veins in 3, 5 and 1 case( s), respectively. During the follow up period ( 38 months), 6 grafts ( 66.6) were functioning. None of the graft rejections were due to surgical complications. Wound dehiscence occurred in two patients. No other surgical complications including infection, lymphocele or hemorrhage were observed. Conclusion: Third kidney transplantation is a. field that has not been fully explored. The rate of complications seems to be not much higher than the. first transplantation. De. ning a standard protocol seems necessary.