Twenty-four hour canine renal preservation by pulsatile perfusion, hypothermic storage, and combinations of the two methods.

A comparison of the effectiveness of two renal preservation techniques was studied in 30 cannine renal pairs. In the absence of warm ischemia, 24-hr preservation by pulsatile perfusion was not significantly superior to hypothermic storage. When 15 min of warm ischemia was added as an additional insult, pulsatile perfusion afforded significantly better early function than cold storage. Combinations of pulsatile perfusion and hypothermic storage following 15 min of warm ischemia were superior to hypothermic storage alone, but inferior to pulsatile perfusion. Kidneys initially perfused for 6 hr and then cold-stored functioned slightly better than kidneys perfused for 18 hr after initial cold storage.