Traditional anatomy describes each kidney as receiving irrigation from a single renal artery. However, current literature reports great variability in renal blood supply, the number of renal arteries mentioned being the most frequently found variation. Such variation has great implications when surgery is indicated, such as in renal transplants, uroradiological procedures, renovascular hypertension, renal trauma and hydronephrosis. This article pretends to determine the frequency of additional renal arteries and their morphological expression in Colombian population in a cross-sectional study. A total of 196 of renal blocks were analysed from autopsies carried out in the Bucaramanga Institute of Forensic Medicine, Colombia; these renal blocks were processed by the injection- corrosion technique. The average age of the people being studied was 33.8 ± 15.6 years; 85.4% of them were male and the rest female. An additional renal artery was found in 22.3% of the whole population and two additional ones were found in 2.6% of the same sample. The additional renal artery was most frequently found on the left side. The additional artery arose from the aorta’s lateral aspect (52.4%); these additional arteries usually entered the renal parenchyma through the hilum. No difference was established according to gender. Nearly a third of the Colombian population presents one additional renal artery and about 3% of the same population presents two additional renal arteries. Most of them reached the kidney through its hilar region.
(Folia Morphol 2008; 67: 129–134