Kidney Transplant

Kidney Transplant Process at Mayo Clinic

A kidney transplant involves more than just surgery. Evaluation, waiting for transplant and recovery following surgery are all part of a long journey for you and your family. Even after recovery, you'll need to make lifestyle changes to remain healthy.

Preparation

Before transplant, doctors will evaluate you to determine whether a transplant will be safe and beneficial. An evaluation typically lasts two or three days and includes:

• Blood tests, including tissue type analysis
• Chest X-ray
• Electrocardiogram and other heart tests
• Evaluation by hormone specialists (endocrinologists) if you have diabetes
• Evaluation by doctors trained in kidney transplantation

Transplant surgery

During kidney transplant surgery, your surgeon makes an incision in your abdomen, usually on the lower right side near the hip bone. Your surgeon places the donor kidney near the bladder on the right side of the pelvis. The surgeon then attaches the donor's ureter (the tube through which urine flows) to your bladder, allowing urine from the new kidney to flow normally. Surgeons restore blood supply to the donor kidney by connecting it to blood vessels supplying the recipient's lower limbs.

Your surgeon usually doesn't remove your own kidneys prior to transplant. However, in some rare cases, such as when your kidneys cause high blood pressure (renal hypertension), your surgeon removes one or both of your kidneys during the transplant or in a later surgery. Your donor kidney should begin to function immediately if it came from a living donor, but in some transplants involving a deceased donor the kidney may take one to two weeks to start working properly.

You can sip liquids the day of surgery and resume your normal diet within two to three days. Usually, you'll be able to take a short walk the day after surgery. Generally, patients remain in the hospital for three to four days after receiving a kidney transplant.

After transplant

After leaving the hospital, you'll need to stay near Mayo Clinic for three to four weeks so your doctors can monitor the function of your new kidney and your recovery.

• Care at home. Mayo Clinic staff will update your primary health care provider about your progress and make recommendations for care at home. Follow-up appointments at Mayo Clinic are sometimes necessary during the first year after surgery, and some people need to return each year. After your transplant, you will be assigned a nurse coordinator to answer your questions, help regulate your medications and maintain a link between the transplant program and your local primary care doctor.
• Long-term health issues. Within three to six weeks after surgery, most people can resume their usual daily activities, including a return to work. You must carefully follow the treatment plan developed in cooperation with the transplant team.
• Medications. You'll need lifelong treatment with immunosuppressant medicines to prevent rejection of your transplanted kidney.

Read more about chest X-rays and electrocardiogram at MayoClinic.com.