The present study compares the outcome of 40 children (39%) transplanted without prior dialysis, i.e., preemptive transplantation (PET), with 63 children (61%) transplanted after a variable duration of dialysis, i.e., pretransplantation dialysis (PTD). The two groups were matched for recipient and donor age and for immunological risk factors. There was no statistical difference in the time to first acute rejection episode nor in the number of acute rejection episodes during the 1st year after renal transplantation. In the PET group, 78% of the recipients received blood transfusion versus 92.5% in the PTD group (P < 0.05), and the average number of blood units per patient was 3.2 and 7.8, respectively (P < 0.05). Arterial hypertension was found in 55% of the patients in the PET group versus 73% in the PTD group (P < 0.05). The number of functioning grafts at the end of the study period was 87.5% in the PET group and 73% in the PTD group (NS). The major cause of graft failure was vascular thrombosis in the PET group (3/5) and chronic allograft rejection in the PTD group (10/17). In the PET group, the actuarial graft survival rate was 100%, 84%, 81%, and 76% at 1, 3, 5, and 7 years, which was not statistically different from the PTD group at 1, 3, and 5 years (98%, 91%, and 73%, respectively) but there was a significantly lower graft survival (59%) after 7 years in the PTD (P < 0.05). The 7-year actuarial patient survival rate was 97% in the PET group and 90% in the PTD group (NS). In the PTD group, children on dialysis for less than 1 year (group 1, n = 25) were compared with those on dialysis for more than 1 year (group 2, n = 38). Arterial hypertension was noted in 40% of patients from group 1 and 65% from group 2 (P < 0.05); there was no significant difference in graft loss rate. In conclusion, these results confirm PET as the preferred approach rather than PTD in children who need renal replacement therapy.