Kidney Donor

General aspects of surgery

A kidney transplant in Delhi is an operation to put a healthy kidney (from a donor) inside the body. There are two types of donors:

Live donors: A living donor can be a relative, a friend, a co-worker or any other person who is willing to give a kidney to someone who needs it. A person only needs a healthy kidney to live.
Dead donors: A dead donor is someone who has recently died.

You may need to have tests to see if the donated kidney is compatible with your type of tissue and blood type. Good tissue compatibility reduces the chances of your body rejecting the new kidney. They will also evaluate you to make sure you do not have significant heart or lung disease or other diseases, such as cancer, that could reduce your life expectancy.
Kidney transplant surgery usually lasts about 3 hours. During the surgery, you will place the donated kidney in the lower abdomen, connect the blood vessels of the donated kidney to the arteries and veins of your body, and connect the kidney ureter donated to the bladder. The blood can then flow through the new kidney and the kidney will begin to filter and eliminate waste and produce urine.
The new kidney usually starts working immediately. In most cases, diseased or damaged kidneys are not removed unless you have a severe kidney infection (pyelonephritis), kidney cancer, nephrotic syndrome, or extremely large polycystic kidneys.

What to expect after surgery?

You will have to stay in the hospital for several days after receiving the new kidney. In some cases, it may take time for the new kidney to produce urine. Therefore, you may have to undergo dialysis and take medications, such as diuretics, to help the new kidney remove excess water and salt from the body.

After the surgery, you will have to take medications to suppress the immune system. These medications are used to help prevent the body from rejecting the new kidney. You should take these medications for the rest of your life.

During the first weeks or months after surgery, your body may try to reject the new kidney. This is called acute rejection and occurs in about 1 in 10 people in the first year after transplant. Most of the time, acute rejection can be treated with medications to prevent rejection (immunosuppressants).

Chronic rejection (also known as the chronic failure of allotransplantation) is a gradual and progressive process of loss of renal function and can occur many months to several years after surgery. The specialists do not fully understand the cause of chronic rejection. There is no treatment for chronic rejection. Most people return to dialysis or receive a new transplant.

Kidney Donate

General aspects of surgery

What to expect after surgery?

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