Renal transplant surgery implies placement of a new kidney into our body with a surgical technique, as our kidneys cannot function to enable us survive and resume our activities. Recently, kidney transplant is the most successful treatment of the end stage renal failure. Kidney transplant provides a long and healthy life span. There are two types of donor for a kidney transplant: living or deceased. Successful kidney transplants, whether living- or deceased-donor, restore all renal functions and improve the quality of life, unlike dialysis treatments, where kidney functions are partially restored. Ministry of health requires the patients to be informed that kidney transplant is the first-line treatment and each patient is listed in an organ transplantation center, as is the case with all developed countries. You may present for living-donor kidney transplant if you have a family member who wants to donate one kidney to you or otherwise, you can apply to be recorded on the deceased-donor kidney transplant list. Kidney transplant restores the lost renal functions and improves quality of life substantially. Every patient in need of dialysis is a candidate for kidney transplant, unless otherwise is stated by the primary physician.
There are approximately 60 thousand dialysis patients in our country. About 21.345 patients are waiting for donor kidneys on Turkish Organ and Tissue Information System (TODS), founded by Ministry of Health.
Kidney transplant can prolong the life expectancy of patients up to 3 times. Eighty percent of the patients can engage in their preoperative work and especially young patients can marry and have children. Patients with a kidney disease should apply to an organ transplantation center, if the renal disease requires dialysis therapy. Transplantation is the best treatment option and eliminates unnecessary use of dialysis resources for patients with a living donor.
Deceased-donor transplants should be prioritized. Unfortunately, donation of deceased-donor organs is very rare in our country. While deceased and living donors account for 80% and 20% of all organ donors, respectively, in European countries, the ratio reverses in Turkey – living donors by 75% and deceased donors by 25 percent. Low organ donation is also an element.
Donation of a kidney by family members is a very important gift of life for dialysis patients to spend a healthy and long life with their loved ones. Bodies of patient are not stressed through a long-term dialysis therapy and the post-transplantation success increases if the kidneys are transplanted as soon as possible. A living-donor kidney transplant ensures a longer life span for the kidney compared to the deceased-donor transplant. On the contrary to the deceased-donor transplant, a kidney that is tested thoroughly to verify renal health is transplant in living-donor kidney transplant. Detailed preoperative evaluation of the recipient and donor, verification of the best health status and elective surgery approach contribute to this success.
Kidney transplant doesn’t solely consist of preoperative preparation and surgery. Following a successful kidney transplant, patients are placed on follow-up by a Nephrologist. The most important element in kidney transplant is to ensure proper functioning of the donor kidney for a long period of time.