Emrah ŞAHİN, Ender ANILIR, Adem TUNCER, Abuzer DİRİCAN
Türk Geriatri Dergisi - 2026;29(1):67-73
Introduction: Expanding the living kidney donor pool has increased interest in evaluating geriatric individuals (>=60 years) as potential donors. Concerns regarding age-related comorbidities and perioperative risks have historically limited the use of older donors. This study aimed to compare perioperative outcomes between geriatric and young living kidney donors. Materials and Method: Data from donors who underwent laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy at a single tertiary center between June 2018 and December 2024 were retrospectively reviewed. Donors were divided into two groups according to age: a Geriatric Group (>=60 years, n=29) and a Young Group (<=40 years, n=100). Donors aged 41-59 years were excluded by design to maximize between-group contrast. Demographic characteristics, comorbidities, perioperative morbidity parameters, length of hospital stay, and recipient outcomes were compared. Missing BMI data (32.5%) were handled by multiple imputation using Rubin's rules. Results: The mean age was 65.4+/-5.5 years in the geriatric group and 29.9+/-5.5 years in the young group (p<0.001). Hypertension was more prevalent among geriatric donors (31.0% vs. 1.0%; p<0.001), and surgical drains were used more frequently (58.6% vs. 23.0%; p=0.001). After multiple imputation, BMI was significantly higher in geriatric donors (28.4+/-5.1 vs. 25.4+/-5.6; p=0.029). Length of hospital stay was longer in the geriatric group (4.62+/-1.08 vs. 4.11+/-0.85 days; p=0.013). No significant differences were found in postoperative infection, bleeding, or creatinine levels. No graft loss or mortality occurred. Conclusion: With careful selection, geriatric living kidney donors demonstrate acceptable perioperative outcomes comparable to younger donors. Chronological age alone should not be an exclusion criterion for living kidney donation.
