Introduction: Anatomical variations in the vascular pattern of kidneys have been well documented in medical literature. Normally each kidney is supplied by a single renal artery. Multiple renal arteries are unilateral in approximately 30% of patients and bilateral in approximately 10%.
Aim:To highlight multiple variations in renal vascular pattern in North Indian Population.
Materials & Methods: Renal arterial pattern of a total of 51 kidneys (28 right & 23 left) were studied after careful dissection of the hilar region and variations noted.
Observations& Results: 33(64.7%) kidneys were supplied by a single renal artery. Variations were observed in 18(35.3%) kidneys. Double renal arteries was seen in 13(25.5%) and triple renal arteries in 5(9.8%).In 9(17.6%) specimens, a superior polar artery was observed and in 5(9.8%) kidneys there was an inferior polar artery.
Conclusion: Awareness of variations of renal artery is necessary for surgical management during renal transplantation; repair of abdominal aorta aneurysm, urological procedures and for angiographic interventions. A failure in recognizing these anomalies during renal transplant and kidney retrieval surgeries may lead to severe hemorrhage and graft loss.
