Information Regarding Kidney Transplantation

1. Discuss with your local Doctor / Nephrologists regarding feasibility of a Kidney Transplant Operation in your case. Though age is not an important factor, underlying general health and cardiac (Heart) condition is quite important.

2. If you are a fit candidate for transplant and if you have decided for the same start looking for a voluntary kidney donor within the family. As per the Human organ Transplant act only close family members (father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, husband and wife) can be a kidney donor. Have a meeting with the family members and try to find out a suitable / voluntary donor of the same blood group. Please remember that patient with blood group AB can receive organ from donor with any blood group (AB, A, B or O) whereas patient with O blood group can receive organ only from O donors. However, O group donor can donate organ to any person. Check the blood group of the patient and the prospective donor and see that they are matching. If the donor is less than 18 yrs and more than 60yrs old he cannot be considered for organ donation. He/she also should not be suffering from any chronic or serious disease. Your treating doctor would guide you in this regard. If you have several donor in the family who are ready to donate organ for you please let the doctor know about this so that he can select the best donors out of them. Your doctor would also guide you in investigating the donor to assess his/her suitability for organ donation.

3. If the patient is already put on dialysis, he/she should remain under regular dialysis treatment by the time the donor is being investigated. Your treating doctor would also assess the health condition of the patient and find out his/her suitability for undergoing a renal transplant operation. During this period some of the underlying associated problem would be treated to make the patient fit for the surgery.

4. Though the doctor would never question the relationship between the donor and the patient, as per the law he has the responsibility to prove the same by medical means (by performing HLA typing / DNA typing test). It is very important to co-operate with the medical team in this regard. As medically it may be difficult to prove the relations-hip between husband and wife, they should provide all documentary evidence as a proof for the same.

5. Normally patient is admitted at the hospital about 48 hours before the surgery and the donor is admitted about 24 hrs earlier. Immunosuppressive drugs (drugs to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ) are normally started 48 hrs before the surgery and they have to be continued indefinitely under medical supervision. The surgery for removal of organ (Nephrectomy) and transplantation are both performed under general anesthesia and the duration of surgery varies from 3 - 6 hrs. In majority of the cases the transplanted kidney start functioning immediately, which is manifested by very good urine output. At times the transplanted kidney may take sometime to start functioning and during this time few sittings of hemodialysis may be necessary to tide over the crisis.

6. There are many surgical and medical complications which may develop in the post transplant period and the treating surgeon / physician keep a close watch on them, It is very important to inform the doctor about any symptom you may develop in the post transplant period and most important being sudden drop in urine output, fever, swelling of the body, cough, and pain at the operated areas.