The Vagina-Kidney Interface

In what is being called as a “first-ever procedure,” a living kidney donor had one of her kidneys removed through her vagina.

Here are some details from Surgeons remove healthy kidney through donor’s vagina, CNN.com, Feb. 3, 2009:

Although the procedure has been previously done to extract cancerous and nonfunctioning kidneys that threatened a patient’s health, the January 29[, 2009] surgery was the first time it was done for donation purposes, the center said in a news release issued Monday.

“The kidney was successfully removed and transplanted into the donor’s niece, and both patients are doing fine,” Dr. Robert Montgomery, chief of transplant surgery at Johns Hopkins, said in the release.

The surgery is considered less invasive and could pave the way for an increase in organ donations, it added.

“Removing the kidney through a natural opening should hasten the patient’s recovery and provide a better cosmetic result,” Montgomery said.

He told CNN on Tuesday, “We want to make it easier for people to donate, to have less impact on their lives, [be] in hospital a shorter amount of time and get back to their lives quicker.” * * *

“If you asked our patient, she said it was like getting a tooth removed. She was walking that night and left the next day,” Montgomery said. * * *

But some physicians wonder how clean the procedure can actually be.

* * * Dr. Jihad Kaouk, director of laparoscopic and robotic surgery at the Cleveland Clinic * * * added, “delivering a kidney from the vagina, which is not sterile — is it a potential risk or a real risk? We’ll find out now.” * * *

The concept of minimizing incisions and decreasing pain after surgery is always a good idea, but we should always check at what price,” he said