Objective To explore the safety of the elderly donors in living related donor kidney transplantation. Methods Forty-five elderly donors (51 - 78 years,study group) who underwent ne-phrectomy for living related donor kidney transplantation from April 1993 to December 2007 were retrospectively investigated. Clinical data including serum creatinine (SCr), glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in pre-and post-operation, operation complications and hospital stay time were analyzed and compared with the control group(62 cases, the donors age were younger than 50 years). Results The operations of all living donors were successful. The SCr and GFR in pre-operation were (82.16 ± 10.86)μmol/L, (85. 82±6.26)ml/min(study group)and (78. 66±10. 41)μmol/L, (88. 74±9. 44) ml/min (control group) respectively. There were no significant differences in SCr and GFR between the groups at different time points (P>0. 05). The average hospitalization time was 9 days in study group and 8 days in control group. There were no severe perioperative complications and no renal function failure was found in long-term following-up in study group. Conclusions Age is not the absolute contraindication of donor for living related donor kidney transplantation. The preoperative evaluation and careful operation can ensure the safety of elderly donors.