Assessment of the degree of satisfaction among living kidney donors

Background

Organ donation during life is an act of great altruism, with unique family, social, economic, and psychological impacts. The group of anesthesiologists involved in this program sought to assess the degree of satisfaction among kidney donors between 2007 and 2008 and, in particular, with the anesthetic approach.

Methods

A telephone survey of kidney donors in 2007 and 2008 complemented a retrospective evaluation of the records of the Acute Pain Unit.

Results

Among 32 kidney donors, 2 were excluded as impossible to contact. Their mean age was 44.33 years including 60% women. The degree of relationship was fathers (43.3%), siblings (50%) or spouses (6.7%). Donors who underwent outpatient anesthesia were satisfied (40%) or very satisfied (60%) with the information received, all willing to repeat the experience of kidney donation. The positive aspects were: good reception (83.4%), help to a family member (30%), good information (13.3%), and confidence in the team (6.6%). No downside was mentioned by 50% of donors. Postoperative analgesia was performed using an epidural catheter (93.3%) or patient-controlled analgesia with morphine (6.7%) associated with intravenous paracetamol in all cases. With regard to analgesia using an epidural catheter, the mean total dose of morphine was 7.7 mg and 27.4 mg for 0.2% ropivacaine over an average of 3.32 days. Pain was assessed in the first 24 hours postoperatively using a scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 4 (unbearable pain): 30% reported 0; 60% 1; and 10% 2. The complaints were pruritus (40%), nausea/vomiting (16.7%), constipation (6.7%) and/or urinary retention (3.3%). No donor showed an altered state of consciousness, motor block, or paresthesias.

Conclusions

Living kidney donors showed a high degree of overall satisfaction. The anesthesia consultation was extremely helpful with a positive impact on kidney donation. An epidural catheter for analgesia after surgery proved to be effective and appropriate for this type of procedure.