Renal grafting and the short right renal vein technical inconveniences.

That the right renal vein is shorter than the left is an incontestable anatomical fact. The distance from ostium to renal sinus in the right side is about 3 cm, whereas the left renal vein has a length close to 5 cm. Certainly, right renal vein is shorter than the left, but it has less anatomical complexity because not only gonadal vein flows into the left but also, occasionally, any posterior collateral vein can be found communicating with the azygos vein. It is also important to note that right venous abnormalities are more common than left ones. Often, the medical literature refers to the disadvantages due to the shortness of the right renal vein, mainly related to the difficulty of anastomosis with the common or external iliac vein. Accordingly, numerous experts responsible for living-donor kidney transplant programs systematically opt for left nephrectomy. Others, in cadaveric kidney transplantation programs, rely on elongation of the right renal vein by diverse methods. The work of Arango et al., in an excellent review of the literature, summarizes accurately the fundamental data in this debate: anatomy and length of the renal veins and various techniques for lengthening the right renal vein. According to personal and other authors’ criteria, such arguments justify the related initiatives for lengthening the right renal vein. The limitations imposed by the shortness of the right renal vein have become more relevant with the advent and disclosure of laparoscopic nephrectomy. These are exactly the programs where left kidney is mostly chosen for grafting. In absence of structural alterations or any other pathologies that compel to choose the kidney with lower future risk for