Ten years of experience with vascular complications in renal transplantation.

From 1970 to 1980, 341 consecutive renal transplants were performed in 307 patients at our hospital. Operative technique was uniform and performed by a single surgeon. Acute arterial thrombosis occurred in 12 kidneys (3.5 per cent) and venous thrombosis occurred in 3 (0.9 per cent). All of these kidneys were lost. Renal artery stenosis, diagnosed in 17 kidneys (4.9 per cent), resulted from surgical technique or rejection and was associated with hypertension in all cases. Of these kidneys 5 responded to drug therapy alone, 4 to transluminal angioplasty and 5 to surgical reconstruction. Three grafts were lost. Vascular complications occurred in 9 per cent of our patients. The results suggest that factors other than surgical technique alone can contribute to the incidence of vascular complications.