Renal Transplantation: Procedure, Risks, and Preparations

Renal transplantation or kidney transplantation is a life-saving procedure that can be necessary to treat kidney failure. The kidneys play a vital role in waste filtration and maintenance of the optimal balance of fluid and electrolytes in the body. With renal transplantation, one or both kidneys are replaced with healthy kidneys from a donor.

When is Renal Transplantation performed?

Renal transplantation is generally recommended when dealing with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) when the kidneys are no longer functioning. In some cases, nephrologists may recommend a pre-emptive kidney transplant so that the patient doesn’t need to even go on dialysis. These recommen-dations are made based on your suitability for a safe transplant, considering your general health status and the presence of other health conditions.

Risks Of Renal Transplantation

As is the case with any major surgery, renal transplantation poses some risks including the following:

• Allergic response to anesthesia
• Bleeding and blood clot formation
• Blockage or leakage from the ureter
• Post-surgical infection
• Heart attack or stroke
• Rejection or failure of donating kidney

Rejection or failure of a donated kidney is rare and most kidney transplantation or renal transplanta-tion procedures have positive outcomes.

How can you prepare for renal transplantation?

Your first step will be to find a suitable kidney transplant centre that performs frequent transplants with high survival rates. You should also find out about the kidney donation process, costs for testing, surgery, and after-care.

Most importantly, you need to be evaluated with thorough testing to ascertain the suitability and safety of renal transplantation for you.

What happens before the procedure? - Renal Transplantation

A living or deceased kidney donor must be found, after which tests are performed to determine whether you are a suitable match. These tests will include blood typing, tissue typing, and crossmatch-ing to ensure compatibility so that the transplanted kidney will not be rejected.

What happens during the procedure? - Renal Transplantation

Renal transplantation or kidney transplantation surgery is performed under general anesthesia, during which:

• Vital signs are closely monitored to ensure your safety.
• A surgical incision is made towards the lower side of the abdomen for placement of the donor kidney and removal of failed kidney if necessary.
• Donor kidney is also attached to blood vessels and its ureter is connected to your bladder.

What happens after the procedure? - Renal Transplantation

After undergoing a kidney transplant, you will need to adhere to the following requirements:

• Hospitalization for a few days to closely monitor your condition and ensure that the new kid-neys begin to function efficiently.
• Continue with frequent check-ups after hospital discharge to ensure that the donor's kidney is well received and not being rejected.
• Take medications to ensure that the donor's kidneys are not rejected and to lower the risk of other complications.

Why Aware Gleneagles Global Hospital for Renal Transplantation?

Gleneagles Global Hospital is regarded as one of India’s leading centres for renal transplantation, with a world-class team of nephrologists and renal transplant surgeons with expertise and experience in both live and cadaver transplants. Our hospital is also regarded as one of the best choices for kidney transplant procedures because of competitive costs, high success rates, and end-to-end care.