Kidney transplant

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Kidney anatomy

Kidney - blood and urine flow

Kidney transplant

Definition:

A kidney transplant is a surgical procedure to implant a healthy kidney into a patient with kidney failure.

Alternative Names:
Renal transplant; Transplant - kidney
Description:

Kidney transplants are second only to corneal transplant as the most common transplant operation in the United States. There are over 9,000 kidney transplants performed each year.

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Patients with chronic kidney disease can receive life-saving dialysis therapy until a donor becomes available. The donated kidney may be from:

Living related donor -- genetically related to the recipient, like a parent, sibling, or offspring
Living unrelated donor -- like a friend or spouse
Deceased donor -- a recently deceased individual who has no known chronic kidney disease

The healthy kidney is transported in a cool saline solution that preserves the organ up to 48 hours. This gives time to perform blood and tissue donor-recipient matching tests, which are done before the operation.

PROCEDURE FOR A LIVING KIDNEY DONOR

While the patient is unconscious and pain-free (under general anesthesia), an incision is made in the side of the abdomen. The kidney is removed and the incision is closed. The traditional operation requires a long incision. However, improvements in technique use a short incision (mini-nephrectomy) or use laparoscopic techniques.

PROCEDURE FOR THE KIDNEY RECIPIENT

While the patient is unconscious and pain-free (under general anesthesia), an incision is made in the lower abdomen. The new kidney is stitched into place within the pelvis and the incision is closed.

Indications:

A kidney transplant may be recommended for patients with kidney failure caused by:

Severe, uncontrollable high blood pressure
Infections
Diabetes
Glomerulonephritis

A kidney transplant alone may NOT be recommended for patients who have:

Heart, lung, or liver disease
Other life-threatening diseases
Certain infections, such as TB or osteomyelitis
Difficulty taking medications several times each day for the rest of their lives