Donating kidney through navel works well: surgeon

By Andrew Stern

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Removing a kidney through a small incision inside the navel reduces the pain, scarring and recovery time that may discourage some donors, the surgeon who pioneered the technique said on Thursday.

Cleveland Clinic surgeons have removed healthy kidneys through the belly-buttons of 11 volunteer donors for the first time and without complications, and the advance could be employed in many types of abdominal surgeries.

"Going through the belly button created a minimal to no visible scar and the quicker recovery time that goes with it," Dr. Inderbir Gill of the Cleveland Clinic said in a telephone interview.

What made the innovation possible, Gill said, was the development of an insert with multiple "ports" that is placed in the incision, allowing the surgeon the use of several laparoscopic instruments at the same time.

Because a donated kidney must come out intact, "like a rose," the bagged organ is brought out by expanding the initial 0.8 inch incision to 1.6 inches, Gill said.

"Kidney donors are truly giving the gift of life, so if we can make their surgery less daunting and less of an inconvenience ... we're hopeful this will result in more people stepping forward to donate," he said.

Donated kidneys removed laparoscopically are usually taken out through the abdomen where up to six cuts are made through the abdominal wall, requiring nearly 100 days for a full recovery. Traditional kidney removal surgery requires a longer incision in the flank and taking out a rib.

With the new technique, donors averaged 25 days for a full recovery, took pain pills for only three days and returned to work four weeks earlier than those whose kidneys were removed through the abdomen.