Risk for Scrotal Surgery Increased for Male Living Kidney Donors

FRIDAY, Nov. 14, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For male living kidney donors, laparoscopic nephrectomy is associated with a higher risk for subsequent scrotal surgery, according to a study published online Nov. 11 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Amit X. Garg, M.D., Ph.D., from ICES in Ontario, Canada, and colleagues examined long-term scrotal surgery rates after laparoscopic nephrectomy in male living kidney donors versus nondonors in a population-based cohort study. The study included 898 male living kidney donors who had a laparoscopic nephrectomy, matched with 8,980 male nondonors from the general population. Patients were followed up to 22 years, for a median of nine years.

The researchers found that donors had a higher rate of scrotal surgery than nondonors (7.8 versus 0.2 percent; 8.3 versus 0.2 events per 1,000 person-years; hazard ratio, 38.8). From donation to scrotal surgery, there was a median time of 5.2 years; more than 90 percent of the surgeries were hydrocelectomies and were performed under general anesthesia. The cumulative incidence over 20 years was 13.8 and 0.7 percent in donors and nondonors, respectively.

“Continuing to encourage living kidney donation is vital, as the practice benefits donors, recipients, families, and society,” the authors write. “Our findings merit action from the transplant community to safeguard the practice. Past and future male donors should be informed about the risk and advised on symptoms to monitor after donation.”

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