WHAT IS THE AVERAGE LIFE EXPECTANCY AFTER A RENAL TRANSPLANT?

Hiranandani Hospital Kidney
4 min readSep 17, 2022

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A kidney transplant may be compared to receiving a second shot at life for many patients. A kidney transplant has several advantages, including granting you greater independence and the ability to lead an active lifestyle. The increased life expectancy for individuals with renal failure following a kidney transplant, however, is the most significant benefit.

In a Hiranandani hospital kidney transplant, a healthy kidney from a living or deceased donor is surgically implanted into a patient whose kidneys are no longer functioning.

Accumulation of waste and dangerous fluid levels in the body results from renal failure and the loss of their filtering capacity. As a result, there may be a rise in blood pressure and renal failure, commonly known as end-stage kidney disease. Renal failure is considered when the kidneys can no longer perform about 90% of their usual tasks.

Dialysis and kidney transplantation are the two available treatments for end-stage renal disease. Through the use of a machine, patients receive dialysis to have waste removed from their bloodstream. Dialysis patients must visit a centre for treatment two to three times each week. In contrast to a kidney transplant, dialysis cannot cure or make up for all kidney functions.

Generally, patients who undergo kidney transplants live longer than those who continue on dialysis. In order to appropriately respond to the above query, it is reasonable to state that patients who have a kidney transplant before beginning dialysis may live 15 to 20 years longer than if they continued on dialysis, which has a life expectancy of around 5 years.

A deceased donor kidney boosts life expectancy from 8 to 12 years, but a living donor kidney performs well for approximately 15 to 20 years.

Although patients as elderly as 75 gain about five more years following a kidney transplant operation than if they had kept on dialysis, younger folks with renal disease benefit most from the treatment.

Patients may be placed on a waitlist for a new kidney if their current one stops functioning because donated kidneys usually last 15 to 20 years. Patients are capable of receiving a second or third kidney transplant, although the subsequent procedure is more difficult. This is due to how difficult it is to consistently identify a compatible match between a donor and a receiver.

It’s important to take proper care of your transplanted kidney to extend its lifespan in order to avoid this.

What factors affect the survival rates of kidney transplants?

The survival rates of Hiranandani hospital kidney transplants are influenced by a variety of factors:

· Donor type: Living kidney donors are more likely to succeed with transplants than are deceased kidney donors.

· Donor age: Older donors may have adverse effects on both short-term and long-term outcomes, including immediate kidney function.

· Kidney preservation time: Increasing the kidney preservation period might shorten life expectancy and delay the recipient’s new kidney’s ability to function.

How is a kidney transplant procedure carried out?

General anesthesia is used during kidney transplant surgery so that the patient is not conscious and does not feel any pain. Throughout the course of the procedure, the nephrologist and the medical staff continuously monitor the patient’s heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation. Usually the procedure takes four to six hours to complete.

The following actions are taken:

The new kidney is placed into the body through an incision created by the surgeon on the lower portion of one side of the abdomen. Unless they are producing complications like kidney stones, high blood pressure, pain, or infection, the patient’s older kidneys are left in the body.

The blood vessels of the new kidney are connected to those in the lower portion of the abdomen.

The bladder is joined to the new kidney and ureter.

Depending on where the new kidney comes from, there are two different forms of kidney transplants:

1. Deceased-donor kidney transplant: In this procedure, the new, healthy kidney is obtained from a recently deceased person (brain death or cardiac death). With permission from the donor’s family or from the donor before death, the kidney is taken from the deceased individual. Until it is transplanted into a patient with end-stage renal disease, the donated kidney may be kept on ice or attached to a machine that gives it oxygen and nourishment.

2. Living-donor kidney transplant: In a live-donor kidney transplant, a recipient who has renal failure receives a kidney from another living person. However, successful kidney transplants can also be carried out using kidneys donated by unrelated persons, such as friends, co-workers, or others. Family members are often the most suitable live kidney donors. A nephrectomy, a medical operation, allows a person to have one working kidney and donate another. Laparoscopic nephrectomy is a minimally invasive alternative to open nephrectomy, which is a more conventional surgical treatment.

How long does it take after a kidney transplant to recover?

Following a kidney transplant, recovery time is influenced by a variety of factors, including:

· Type of transplantation technique

· acceptance of the new kidney by the body

· overall wellbeing

Recovery speed for different patients may vary. The patient is sent to a recovery area after the surgery, where the nurses and medical professionals check for any problems or organ rejection. Once a few days or a week, and only after the surgeon and the transplant team have examined the patient’s progress, strength, and overall health, the patient is usually discharged from the hospital.

It is important you consult the best potential nephrologist for the entire procedure.

Here is all you need to know about expert Sujit Chatterjee, CEO, Dr. LH Hiranandani Hospital Kidney transplant, one of the leading kidney transplant hospitals in Maharashtra.

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