How Successful Are Kidney Transplant Surgeries
End Stage Renal Disease cannot be treated with conventional medical treatment. Dialysis and kidney transplant are the only treatment for this condition. Kidney transplantation means replacement of the failed kidneys with a working kidney from a donor.
What to expect from a Kidney Transplant?
Failure of transplant kidney is reported in about 4 percent of deceased donor kidney transplant recipients within 1 year after transplant and 21 % of the case after five years of transplant. Among living donor kidney transplant recipients, the failure rate is about 3 percent at one year and 14 percent at five years after transplant. Living donor kidneys function, on average, 12 to 20 years and deceased donor kidney from 8 to 12 years. Patients who get a kidney transplant before dialysis live an average of 10 to 15 years longer than if they stayed on dialysis. The success rate of kidney transplantation varies depending on whether the donated organ is from a living donor or a deceased donor as well as the medical condition of the recipients. A kidney from living donor generally lasts longer.
What happens in a Kidney Transplant?
A kidney transplant is an elective surgery. Before transplantation, the donor is evaluated throughout in various steps. First donor screening test was done and later on immunological work up. This test was done in view of assurance that after retrieval of one kidney from a donor, the donor should not develop any kidney problem throughout of his/her life.
Giving The Gift Of Life
By becoming a live donor, you shorten the time a recipient spends on the kidney transplant waiting list . You also increase the likelihood of successful transplantation because survival rates are higher when the kidney transplant comes from a live donor. Additionally, you help another wait-listed patient because your donation vacates the recipients spot on the list for the next person when a deceased donors kidney becomes available.
Success Rates Of Kidney Transplants
Success rates for kidney transplants have improved in recent decades as more effective immunosuppressant techniques have been found.
Success rates are not so easy to quantify as success will depend on a number of factors including the quality of the kidney match as well as your overall health. Kidney transplant recipients are strongly advised not to smoke and to maintain a healthy lifestyle to prevent complications developing.
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Incompatible Living Donor Transplant
Ideally, to be eligible for transplantation, kidney donors and recipients should have compatible blood and tissue types. Too often, however, willing live donors do not meet these medical criteria. While it remains preferable to receive a kidney from someone who is fully immunologically compatible, recipients can be successfully transplanted from a donor with mismatched antibodies.
When antibodies are present, the blood of the recipient and donor react to each other, much like an allergic reaction. In the past, this reaction has caused the recipient’s body to reject the donor organ. Today, we can successfully transplant from an incompatible donor if the recipient’s blood is first “cleaned” of antibodies through a process known as plasmaphereis.
First, the amount of antibodies present must be quantified. This level helps to determine the number of treatments required. Next, the recipient’s blood is separated into cells and plasma . The plasma is removed and replaced with a commercially available plasma substitute. Removing the plasma removes the antibodies. In essence, plasmapheresis is similar to dialysis it removes antibodies just as dialysis removes waste products.
Depending on the level of antibodies present, plasmapheresis may be performed anywhere from 2-10 times. Most patients receive the treatment every other day, for up to three times a week. Once the quantity of antibodies drops to a low enough level, the recipient can undergo the transplant.
Transplant Procedure
Blood And Tissue Compatibility
The first step towards a successful kidney transplant is to establish the compatibility between donor and recipient. This means that the blood and tissue types should be compatible, which is established through a series of tests, screenings and evaluations. The living donor has to remain healthy throughout the process and to assist with this blood and urine tests, imaging exams and cancer screenings are conducted.
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How Do I Know My New Kidney Is Working
Blood tests help you know your donor kidney is working. Before you leave the hospital, youll schedule an appointment at the transplant center to test your blood. The tests show how well your kidneys are removing wastes from your blood.
At first, youll need regular checkups and blood tests at the transplant center or from your doctor. As time goes on, youll have fewer checkups.
Your blood tests may show that your kidney is not removing wastes from your blood as well as it should. You also may have other symptoms that your body is rejecting your donor kidney. If you have these problems, your transplant surgeon or nephrologist may order a kidney biopsy.
Ive Heard Of Kidney Transplant Rejection What Is That And What Are The Symptoms
Kidney rejection does happen, but it’s rare. Your new kidney may take a while to start working properly or you may experience problems associated with the surgery itself, including bleeding or infection at the incision site. Immunosuppressant medicines also put you at greater risk for infection.
We advise our patients to call us if they notice any of the following:
- Fever, or a lasting cold or cough
- Seeping from surgical scar
- Burning with urination
Keep in mind that you may not notice early signs of rejection, so routine blood tests after surgery are crucial. Look for high blood pressure or swelling. These are signals that your new kidney may not be functioning properly.
If you do experience problems, well work closely with you. It may be that you need your medications adjusted or you might need to go on dialysis for a while as your body gets used to its new kidney.
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Living Donor Kidney Transplantation
Living donor kidney transplants are the best option for many patients for several reasons.
- Better long-term results
- No need to wait on the transplant waiting list for a kidney from a deceased donor
- Surgery can be planned at a time convenient for both the donor and recipient
- Lower risks of complications or rejection, and better early function of the transplanted kidney
Any healthy person can donate a kidney. When a living person donates a kidney the remaining kidney will enlarge slightly as it takes over the work of two kidneys. Donors do not need medication or special diets once they recover from surgery. As with any major operation, there is a chance of complications, but kidney donors have the same life expectancy, general health, and kidney function as most other people. The kidney loss does not interfere with a woman’s ability to have children.
Potential Barriers to Living Donation
- Age < 18 years unless an emancipated minor
- Uncontrollable hypertension
- Bilateral or recurrent nephrolithiasis
- Chronic Kidney Disease stage 3 or less
- Proteinuria > 300 mg/d excluding postural proteinuria
- HIV infection
- Shorter recovery time in the hospital
- Quicker return to normal activities
- Very low complication rate
The operation takes 2-3 hours. Recovery time in the hospital is typically 1-3 days. Donors often are able to return to work as soon as 2-3 weeks after the procedure.
Anxiety Depression And Mental Health
Getting a transplant is usually an exciting event, but because it is also a major life change, its normal to have all kinds of emotions afterward. If youre experiencing feelings of anxiety, depression or guilt, please know that you are not alone many transplant patients experience these feelings at first, for many reasons.
- Mood changes may be a side effect of the immunosuppressant medicines you are taking.
- You may feel stressed or anxious about your new lifestyle.
- You may feel guilty about getting a kidney from a living or deceased donor.
- If you have been on dialysis for a long time, you may feel guilty about leaving other dialysis patients behind once you get your transplant.
- Your family members may also have emotional changes as they adjust to your new lifestyle.
You do not have to deal with these feelings alone. Getting a kidney transplant is a major life change, and it is normal to feel stressed and anxious about big life changes.
Reach out to your family and friends for support. Also, let your transplant team know about your emotional changes so they can help support you and adjust your medicines if needed. Your transplant team can also refer you to a mental health specialist.
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Availability Of Kidney Transplants
Currently the NHS reports that there are more people who require a kidney transplant than there are available donors.
People can comfortably live on one fully working kidney and as a result, kidneys can be removed from live donors who choose to donate a kidney.
Donated kidneys from live donors have a slightly better chance of success than those taken soon after the donor has deceased.
A kidney from a healthy family member usually presents the best chance of transplantation success as the body is less likely to reject the new kidney.
The Nhs Organ Donor Register
In the UK, consent is required before organs can be donated. A person can give their consent to become an organ donor after death by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register or by discussing their wishes with loved ones.
Alternatively, a person’s organs can be donated if consent is obtained after their death from an authorised person, such as a relative or friend.
Joining the NHS Organ Donor Register is quick and simple, and will only take a few minutes of your time. You can remove yourself from the register at any time, and you can specify what you’re willing to donate.
Page last reviewed: 20 August 2018 Next review due: 20 August 2021
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Should I Stay On Dialysis Or Have A Kidney Transplant
When your kidneys no longer function properly due to kidney failure, your nephrologist usually offers you 2 options: dialysis or kidney transplant. Many times patients are on dialysis while they wait for transplantation, so its important to understand what that involves.
Our patients sometimes find dialysis to be restrictive, because appointments and maintenance take up a lot of time. Plus, dialysis only replaces part of your kidneys function. Its imperative that your nephrologist monitors you closely alongside your primary care provider to help ensure youre receiving exceptional care.
With a successful kidney transplant, many of our patients are able to live more normally than with dialysis. Thats because life on dialysis means you are dependent on dialysis, which acts as your artificial kidney. With a kidney transplant, life is completely different. In my experience, it can help people get their lives back, and thats truly a gift.
How Does A Kidney Transplant Work
During a kidney transplant, we replace your damaged kidney with one from a living donor or deceased donor. A transplant surgeon connects your new kidney to an artery and vein in your groin and to the ureter. This allows excess fluid and waste to be carried in the urine through the bladder from your new kidney.
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Celebrities And Kidney Transplants
The United States celebrity-fueled social media culture means many celebrities have become increasingly open about their health journeys, sharing personal stories about everything from wellness tips to lifesaving organ donations. Stevie Wonder, who announced to a sea of fans that he would be receiving a kidney transplant from a living donor at the end of 2019, recently updated his fans on his post-transplant progress. While celebrity reputation has no effect on a persons status on the transplant waiting list, an announcement like Steve Wonders reaches his millions of fans with a strong message about the importance of living organ donation. The question is, with about 109,000 people on the organ transplant waiting list in the U.S. how can we use celebrity voices to elevate the conversation about organ transplants and increase the number people both living and deceased who choose to make a lifesaving gift?
Transplant Patients With Hepatitis Or Cancer
For patients with hepatitis C, recurrence of the hepatitis causing damage to the new liver is the most common reason for the new liver to fail. This can happen over many years, but in rare cases, it can also occur within the first few months. Patients with recurrence of hepatitis may require treatment with interferon, which may slow the progression of damage.
Patients with liver cancer can experience recurrence of the cancer after transplant, even if the initial cancer was small. Small tumors may be present outside the liver at the time of transplant that are not visible on imaging tests. These can grow and cause symptoms later. Fortunately, recurrence is uncommon after transplantation if patients have early-stage liver cancer .
Patients with hepatitis B can also experience recurrence, but much less commonly than with hepatitis C. Hepatitis B is prevented using a combination of an immune globulin injection given in the office and an antiviral medication, which is taken for life.
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Transplanted Kidneys Survive Longer
by KU Leuven
The lifespan of a transplant kidney has significantly improved over the last 30 years. Between 1986 and 1995, 75 percent of the transplanted kidneys still functioned five years after the transplant. Between 2006 and 2015, this number had already risen to 84 percent. However, an international study led by kidney specialist Maarten Naesens of KU Leuven shows that the progress is stagnating.
A transplanted kidney’s lifespan is 15 to 20 years on average. If the kidney stops working, the patient is back on the waiting list for a new one. However, a second or even a third transplant is more complex, as finding a new good match between donor and recipient becomes increasingly difficult. In practice, this often results in patients having to undergo dialysis treatment for a long time, or even for the rest of their lives. To avoid this, extending the lifespan of transplant kidneys should be prioritized.
Professor Maarten Naesens of KU Leuven and University Hospitals Leuven says, “The data of more than 100,000 recipients of transplant kidneys across Europe from 1986 until 2016 shows that we have made considerable progress in the last 30 years. Between 1986 and 1995, 87 percent of the transplanted kidneys still functioned one year after the transplant. After five years, that was still 75 percent. Between 2006 and 2015, this number had risen to 92 percent one year after the transplantation and 84 percent five years after.”
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Who Should Get A Kidney Transplant
If you are diagnosed with kidney failure, or youre at Stage 3 CKD or Stage 4 CKD and considering a kidney transplant procedure down the line, talk to your doctor about whether or not kidney transplant surgery is right for you. If youre in otherwise good health and your doctor determines that you meet the requirements, a kidney transplant may be a good option. Generally, doctors consider a kidney transplant to be the best kidney failure treatment, whenever possible.
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What Is The Success Rate Of Kidney Transplants
Public Domain | http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/transplant
Your kidneys have the important job of filtering out urea and other wastes from the blood and maintaining the proper balance of acids and electrolytes in the bodys fluids. When the kidneys fail due to inherited conditions or disease, symptoms can include weakness, shortness of breath, decreased muscle function, heart problems and eventually death. The two main treatments for kidney failure are dialysis and kidney transplantation. Kidney transplants usually offer the best quality of life improvement for those with kidney disease.
Significance
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Kidneys are the number one most successfully transplanted organ around the world. Depending on the reasons the transplant is needed and the age of the recipient, success rates for kidney transplantation range from 80 to 90 percent 5 years after the operation is completed. Getting a transplant can often provide much higher quality of life for patients with kidney failure as compared to renal dialysis, in which the patient is hooked up to a machine that takes over the kidneys job of cleaning the blood of waste and toxins.
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Us Kidney Transplant Outcomes Are Improving
HealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, Aug. 24, 2021 — Here’s some hopeful news for those who have kidney transplants: Long-term survival rates have improved over the past three decades, a review shows.
“There has been a gratifying improvement in kidney transplant survival, both for patients and the kidney graft itself, from 1996 to the current era,” said review author Dr. Sundaram Hariharan, a senior transplant nephrologist at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
The five-year survival rate of recipients who received kidneys from deceased donors increased from about 66% in 1996â1999 to just over 78% in 2012â2015. Survival increased from 79.5% to about 88% among recipients who received kidneys from living donors.
“These improvements have occurred despite unfavorable increases in obesity, diabetes and other conditions in patients and donors,” Hariharan said in a university news release. “We have learned a lot through research and by taking care of kidney transplant patients.”
Hariharan explained that improvements in tissue matching, organ distribution systems, surgical techniques, immune-suppressing medicines and after-transplant medical care have helped contribute to better survival rates.
Longer survival times not only benefit kidney transplant patients and reduce health care costs, they also mean more kidneys are available for the approximately 90,000 Americans waiting for a kidney transplant, the researchers noted.
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