Living kidney donation: evolution and technical aspects of donor nephrectomy.

For more than 40 years, living donor nephrectomy was performed through a flank incision drawn on the urologic experience with nephrectomy for cancer. Since its introduction one decade ago, laparoscopic donor nephrectomy has gained widespread acceptance and popularity; currently over one-half of donor nephrectomies in the United States are performed with this technique. The changing practice of donor nephrectomy resembles in many ways the evolution of minimally invasive in other subspecialties. The lessons learned from these technical developments are valuable and can be adapted by general surgeons and urologists when called upon to perform nephrectomy for organ donation or kidney disease.