Type of Surgery
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Last updated: 11/24/2009
A typical hospital stay for a transplant recipient is about five days. Both kidney donors and recipients will experience some discomfort in the area of the incision after surgery. Pain relievers are administered following the transplant operation....
Patients may also experience numbness, caused by severed nerves, near or on the incision.
A regimen of immunosuppressive, or anti-rejection, medication is prescribed to prevent the body's immune system from rejecting the new kidney. Common immunosuppressants include cyclosporine, prednisone, tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, sirolimus, baxsiliximab, daclizumab, and azathioprine. The kidney recipient will be required to take a course of immunosuppressant drugs for the lifespan of the new kidney. Intravenous antibodies may also be administered after transplant surgery and during rejection episodes.
Because the patient's immune system is suppressed, he or she is at an increased risk for infection. The incision area should be kept clean, and the transplant recipient should avoid contact with people who have colds, viruses, or similar illnesses. If the patient has pets, he or she should not handle animal waste. The transplant team will provide detailed instructions on what should be avoided post-transplant. After recovery, the patient will still have to be vigilant about exposure to viruses and other environmental dangers.
Transplant recipients may need to adjust their dietary habits. Certain immunosuppressive medications cause increased appetite or sodium and protein retention, and the patient may have to adjust his or her intake of calories, salt, and protein to compensate.
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The kidney filters blood to produce urine and can do so because of its unique anatomy. This narrated animation shows the anatomy of the kidney and how that anatomy enables the kidney to filter wastes from the blood.
For a kidney transplant, an incision is made in the lower abdomen (A). The donor kidney is connected to the patient's blood supply lower in the abdomen than the native kidneys, which are usually left in place (B). A transplanted ureter connects the donor kidney to the patient's bladder (C). (Illustration by GGS Inc.)
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Kidney transplantation or renal transplantation is the organ transplant of a kidney in a patient with end-stage renal disease. Kidney transplantation is typically classified as deceased-donor (formerly known as cadaveric) or living-donor transplantation depending on the source of the recipient organ. Living-donor renal transplants are further characterized as genetically related (living-related) or non-related (living-unrelated) transplants, depending on whether a biological relationship exists between the donor and recipient.
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As a urologist, I've found it's easier to do the PSA test and then sit down with the patient and say here's what the results mean for you. Given what we know right now, that seems a very sensible approach.
-Dr. Evan Vapnek
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