Assessing Incidence and Variations of Accessary Renal Arteries Pertaining to Origin, Branching and Patterns of Segmentation: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Accessory renal arteries (ARAs) typically derive from the multiple structures namely abdominal aorta, common iliac, coeliac trunk, and superior mesenteric and inferior mesenteric arteries. In any surgical procedure, unfamiliarity of the presence of ARAs can cause serious outcome. The present study was done to assess number, origin and branching pattern of accessory renal arteries. Material and Methods: A Cross- sectional study was executed at Anatomy Department of one of the private medical colleges in Pune between January 2015 to April 2017 in which total 40 formalin fixed human cadaveric kidneys were dissected and inspected for morphological features. Mean length, thickness and breadth of kidneys were noted. Anterior and posterior branching patterns, various segmental structures and associated variations of ARAs were noted. The data was entered into Microsoft Office Excel Sheet and analysed with SPSS Version 25 Software. Results: In the current study, total no of ARAs received were 12(30%) from 40 kidneys. Out of 12, six (50 %) were from right side and remaining 6 (50 %) from left side. Pre-hilar multiple branching pattern of ARA was detected only in 7 (17.5%) specimens. The study could not reveal any statistically significant differences in the morphological features of kidneys with renal artery as well as ARA (p>0.05). Conclusions: There is need to strengthen knowledge about variations of the ARAs due to growing number of renal transplantations, vascular reconstructions, urological and radiological techniques in recent period. Also, it is essential to conduct further studies to know potential implications of the co-existence of ARAs and other atypical vascularization which may be major risk factor during surgical procedures.