Kidney Transplants
Kidney transplant doctor in Navi Mumbai | Dr. Ravindra Nikalji
A kidney transplant is one of the most common organ transplant surgeries performed today. In this surgery, kidneys that aren’t working well are replaced by a kidney from a donor. Kidney transplants have been performed since the 1950s. This surgery is a lifesaving choice for thousands of end-stage kidney disease (kidney renal failure) patients. If you have kidney failure and cannot have a transplant, dialysis can sustain life. Dialysis cleans the blood by removing waste products such as urea.
There are many signs of kidney failure, such as:
- swelling of the hands, feet and face (edema)
- headaches (due to high blood pressure)
- seizures
- pale skin colour (due to low iron)
- coffee-coloured urine
- chronic bad breath that cannot be freshened by brushing your teeth
- depression
- fatigue
- itchy skin
Each year about 115,000 people in the U.S. are found to have end-stage kidney disease. In 3 out of 4 people who have endstage kidney disease, it is caused by:
- high blood sugar (diabetes)
- high blood pressure
- glomerulonephritis (scars in the kidneys’ tiny filters)
Other risk factors are:
- high blood pressure
- hardening of the arteries
- African-American or Native American background
- obesity
- older age
- untreated strep infections
- chronic kidney infections
- lupus
- bad diarrhea
- kidney stones
- long-term use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen
Dialysis
The most common treatment for end-stage kidney disease is dialysis. Dialysis removes waste, extra water and chemicals (like potassium, sodium, calcium and acid) from the body. The 2 types of dialysis are hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.
In hemodialysis, your bloodstream is joined to a kidney machine outside the body. Hemodialysis is most often done 3 times per week and each session takes about 4 hours.
Peritoneal dialysis is done through a tube in the belly. Dialysis will not cure kidney failure. But dialysis can replace the work of the kidneys, and help you feel better and live longer.
Kidney Transplant
About 30 out of 100 patients with kidney failure can have a kidney transplant. This surgery returns kidney function by replacing 2 failed kidneys with 1 healthy organ. About two-thirds of kidney transplants come from nonliving (deceased) donors. But family members, spouses (living, related donors) and friends (living, unrelated donors) can donate safely if tests show that the donor will have nearly normal kidney function after giving up 1 kidney.
A kidney transplant is most often placed in the lower belly without removing the failed kidneys. The artery and vein of the new kidney are joined to an artery and a vein in the pelvis next to your bladder. The ureter (the tube that drains urine from the kidney to the bladder) attached to the new kidney is joined to your bladder or to one of your ureters.
In a child, the blood vessels from a large adult kidney transplant are often joined to the child’s aorta (the largest artery in the body) and inferior vena cava (the largest vein in the belly).