Surgery Overview

• Surgery Overview
• Expect After Surgery
• Why It Is Done
• How Its Work
• Risk
• What To Think About

During kidney transplant surgery, a healthy kidney (donor kidney) will replace your own diseased kidneys. See an illustration of a kidney transplant.

There are two types of donors:

Living donors:

• A family member (related donor). Transplants tend to be more successful when the donor is a first-degree relative, such as your father, mother, brother, or sister.
• A spouse or very close friend (unrelated donor).
• Cadaver donor: If there are no compatible living related or unrelated kidney donors, transplant patients are placed on a waiting list to receive a kidney from a person who has recently died (cadaveric kidney).
• Before a kidney from any donor can be used, tests need to be done to make sure the donor kidney matches your tissue type and blood type. This helps reduce the likelihood that your body will reject 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 limit your life expectancy.

Your surgeon will place the donor kidney in your lower abdomen, connecting blood vessels from the donor kidney to arteries and veins in your body. The ureter from the donor kidney is connected to your bladder. Blood is then able to flow through the new kidney, and the filtration and removal of wastes and the production of urine can resume. Your damaged kidneys will not be removed unless they are causing problems that cannot be treated with medication.

Kidney transplant surgery takes about 3 hours. The transplanted kidney usually begins to function right away.