Successful repair of kidney graft artery rupture secondary to infection using a preprocessed homologous “Y”‐shaped iliac artery

OBJECTIVES: This retrospective study aims to describe novel ways of repair kidney allograft artery rupture secondary to infection using a preprocessed homologous “Y”‐shaped iliac artery. METHODS: Five patients' whose course was complicated by graft arterial rupture were included in the rupture group, and patients who received the kidney from the same donor were included in the control group. In the rupture group, the iliac artery used for revascularization was harvested from a DCD donor, pre‐treated with absolute diethyl ether, followed by absolute alcohol, and then preserved in 75% alcohol. A biopsy of the arterial graft was obtained and stained using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). Once a patient was diagnosed with kidney allograft arterial rupture by ultrasound, emergency surgery was conducted and the preprocessed “Y”‐shaped iliac artery was used for bridging. RESULTS: Five patents were included in the rupture group. The “Y”‐shaped iliac artery grafts were successfully preprocessed, H&E staining and electron microscope observation revealed few visible nuclei, with karyorrhexis and karyolysis. There were no significant differences in the long‐term graft survival between two groups. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, using preprocessed homologous “Y”‐shaped iliac artery provides a useful method to bridge the vascular defects from kidney graft artery rupture secondary to infection in renal allograft recipients.