Surgery Overview
A kidney transplant is surgery to replace
your own diseased kidneys with a healthy (donor) kidney. See a picture of a
. There are two types of donors:
- Living donors. A living donor may be a
family member, a friend, a coworker, or any person who is willing to give a
kidney to someone in need. A person only needs one healthy kidney to live.
- Cadaver donors. A cadaver donor is someone who has recently died.
Most donor kidneys come from this source.
In both cases, the key to success is having the closest
possible blood and tissue matches. A family member is not always the best
match.
You will need to have tests to make sure the donor kidney
matches your
tissue type and
blood type. This helps reduce the chances that your
body will
the new kidney. You will also be evaluated to
make sure that you do not have significant heart or lung disease or other
diseases, such as cancer, which might decrease your life span.
Kidney transplant surgery takes about 3 hours. During surgery, the donor
kidney will be placed in your lower abdomen, blood vessels from the donor
kidney will be connected to arteries and veins in your body, and the
from the donor kidney will be connected to your
bladder. Blood is then able to flow through the new kidney, and the kidney will
begin to filter and remove wastes and to produce urine.
The new
kidney usually begins to function right away. In most cases, diseased or
damaged kidneys are not removed unless you have a severe infection of the
kidney (), kidney cancer,
, or extremely large
.
For more
information, see the topic
Organ Transplant.
What To Expect After Surgery
You will have to stay in the hospital
for 7 to 10 days after you receive your new kidney. In some cases, it may take
time for your new kidney to produce urine. So you may have to receive dialysis
and take medicines, such as diuretics, that help your new kidney get rid of
excess water and salt from your body.
After the surgery you will
have to take medicines, such as prednisone, azathioprine, and cyclosporine, to
suppress your
. These medicines are used to help keep
your body from
your new kidney. You will need to take these
medicines for the rest of your life.