Hand-assisted laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy.

Minimally invasive live donor nephrectomy has been described using both standard laparoscopic dissection and "gasless" endoscopically assisted techniques. We report another method, hand-assisted laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy, which uses an occlusive sleeve to maintain pneumoperitoneum. The procedure is performed under excellent laparoscopic visualization in a generous operative field, and is facilitated substantially by manual assistance, which takes advantage throughout the procedure of the incision that is necessary for intact organ removal. The results of our first procedure are encouraging.