TRANSPLANTATION

Transplantation is the surgical placement of a donated, healthy kidney into your body. Only one kidney is needed for transplant. A single kidney is enough to maintain life. A successful transplant does not cure kidney failure, but frees you from regular dialysis treatments.

Transplant kidneys can come from living donors or nonliving (cadaver) donors. A living donor is usually someone who is a blood relative. It is possible, but less common, to get a kidney from a living donor who is not related. Any donor must have closely matching tissue and blood types for the kidney to be accepted for transplant. You and a donor must go through a series of blood and tissue typing tests to be sure that you "match". If the match is not good, the kidney would be rejected by your body. Even with a good match there is a risk of rejection when added medications and even hospitalization may be necessary.

After transplantation, special medications must be taken daily to keep your body from rejecting the transplanted kidney. These medications can cause serious side effects. The effects of the medications, the function of the kidney, and your general health are carefully monitored by the transplant team.

The length of time that a transplanted kidney works is different for every person. It depends on the match between you and the donor, how your body responds to the kidney and anti-rejection medications, the presence of other diseases, how faithful you are in taking anti-rejection medications, and your overall medical condition.

If a transplanted kidney rejects or stops working you will need dialysis, but can choose to be considered for another transplant.

ADVANTAGES OF TRANSPLANTATION INCLUDE:

• Freedom from regular dialysis treatments.
  If the transplanted kidney works correctly , dialysis treatments will not be needed. Sometimes when the kidney is just beginning to work or is trying to reject , dialysis is needed temporarily.
• Return to a more normal life if the transplanted kidney works well.
  You may be able to eat fairly normally, have more energy, and be more active.

DISADVANTAGES OF TRANSPLANTATION INCLUDE:

• Major surgery and a hospital stay (one to several weeks)
• The need for long term anti-rejection medicines with possible serious side effects
• The possibility of a long wait for a kidney if there is no living donor.
• The possibility of rejection episodes that require hospitalization and/or large doses of anti-rejection medications.