Renal Transplantation: A Guide for Patients and Donors
Renal transplantation is a medical procedure that takes place when a person’s kidney fails and cannot perform its normal functions. Kidney dysfunction is a common disease, and about one in every 25 people will have it at some point in their lifetime, Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, says. The effects of kidney failure can be devastating, leaving patients with limited amounts of urine and often requiring them to undergo dialysis treatments for extended periods each day. If you do not have access to another healthy kidney when your own starts to fail, your health could rapidly deteriorate — particularly if you are older, as the condition tends to progress more quickly in older people who already have compromised kidney function from other diseases.
What Is Renal Transplantation?
Renal transplantation is a surgical procedure during which one healthy kidney is removed from a relative who is not at risk of having kidney disease and is then transplanted into another person who is experiencing kidney failure due to other causes. End-stage renal disease is a broad term that refers to a few different diseases that cause people to have a decreased ability to filter the blood and remove waste products from the body, which can lead to serious health problems. There are two main forms of renal disease: chronic renal failure (CRF) and diabetic renal disease. Chronic renal failure is a condition that occurs when a person’s kidneys stop working properly as a result of diabetes or hypertension. It is the most common form of kidney disease. Diabetic renal disease occurs when a person has both diabetes and a kidney disease that weakens their blood vessels. It is a relatively uncommon condition.
Donating a kidney
There are many medical conditions that can lead to kidney failure, but only a small number of them can lead to the need for renal transplantation. First, a medical team must detect that you have ESRD. You will be referred to a nephrology specialist, who will run blood tests and examine your medical history to find out if you have one of the conditions that increases your risk of ESRD. You will likely also undergo a series of tests that look at your kidney function. The team will then try to find a patient for you to donate a kidney to. This person does not have any health issues that affect their ability to receive a kidney, has relatively good health, and is dead set on donating their kidney to someone else.
To donate a kidney, the donor must undergo some medical tests and then have a minor surgery to remove one of their donor’s kidneys. The healthy kidney is then transplanted into the donor. In most cases, the donor will be the relative who has agreed to donate their kidney to you. If you are willing to donate to a stranger, there are many different agencies that specialize in kidney donation.
There are many criteria that must be met in order for a kidney to be considered a suitable donor for a recipient.
- The donor must be healthy enough to undergo the major surgery to remove one of their kidneys.
- The kidney must be physically fit enough to withstand being removed from their body.
- The recipient must have enough healthy blood-filtering ability in the recipient’s own body to take on the extra kidney.
Once you and your donor have completed the procedures and tests, you will undergo a period of waiting. Once the recipient’s body has accepted the donated kidney, you will go into a period of dialysis, where your kidneys will be cleansed of wastes and excess fluid while your blood is circulated through a machine. Dialysis will help you to stay alive while the new kidney is working to produce enough urine for your body, but it can only be done at a clinic or hospital and is a very slow process. During this time, you will need to carefully manage your diet and levels of fluids in order to avoid becoming dehydrated. You also need to make sure that you get enough rest to stay as healthy as possible.
