From 1969 to 1986, 303 renal allografts (290 cadaveric) were placed in 215 pediatric recipients. Twenty-three patients (7.6%) had renovascular complications and 16 (5.3%) had nonrenovascular complications. The overall incidence of surgically significant complications was 12.9%. Of these, 54% were felt to be of a technical etiology. The remainder were surgically significant in that their management necessitated operative intervention.