Reducing renal injury during transplantation.

Damage sustained by an ischaemic kidney is reduced by cooling the organ. For this reason kidneys are rapidly cooled during the retrieval operation and preserved at low temperature before implantation. When the kidney is removed from cold storage for implantation into the recipient it gradually rewarms (second warm ischaemic time) and a prolonged second warm ischaemic time has been shown to be a cause of acute tubular necrosis following transplantation. The temperature rise in a kidney during implantation has been poorly investigated and little work to minimize that rise has been carried out. This study investigates, in an animal model, the changes that occur in the core temperature of kidneys during the second warm ischaemic time. A jacket has been designed which greatly reduces the rate of kidney rewarming during simulated operative conditions. Kidneys unprotected by the test system showed a rapid rise in temperature from a mean of 1 degrees C to a mean of 20 degrees C after 45 min, compared with those kidneys placed in the protective jacket in which the temperature rose to a mean of only 8 degrees C in the same time. The jacket is not bulky and is simple to use. Maintaining a low kidney core temperature during the second warm ischaemic time will reduce injury to the kidney and should be part of routine clinical practice.