Kidney transplantation is the surgical procedure of organ transplant of a donor kidney into a patient with a terminally failed kidney.

 The symptoms of kidney failure are hard to detect, as the kidneys are capable of compensating or prolonging their function. Kidney failure can happen rapidly (acute kidney failure) or slowly and gradually over a period of time (chronic kidney failure).  In the case of chronic kidney failure, patients with chronic illness or diseases like diabetes (type 1 and 2), high blood pressure, liver disease, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, neurological damage, bleeding problems etc are at a higher risk of obtaining a kidney failure far earlier than others. It is therefore, essential for such patients to vigorously follow on the medicinal inputs provided by the medical practitioner.

Kidney failure is not a painful process so, the symptoms become detectable only when the condition has reached a critical stage. Some of the end stage symptoms of kidney failure are fluid retention, dehydration, urinary problems, fatigue, bleeding, loss of appetite, itching and pale skin due to anaemia.

Kidney transplantation is done by attaching the donor kidney to the failed kidney’s artery and vein so that blood for purification can be transferred in and out of the kidney.  The ureter is then attached to the donor kidney which leads to the bladder for the urine to be transferred.  Most often, the failed kidney is taken out only in the case of possibility of an infection, otherwise, they are not necessarily excised out from the body.

The donor kidney has the possibilities of 2 origins. The donor could be a living-donor and further a related or non-related donor at that or the donor kidney could be obtained from a cadaver.  It is essential for the donor kidney to be in a good condition to be easily accepted by the recipient’s body system, therefore the donors are carefully evaluated to be disease free. In the case of a cadaveric donor, the kidneys are usually obtained from people dead due to a cardiac arrest or brain death.

Some of the conditions that make a person ineligible as a recipient for a kidney transplant are cancer, heart or lung disease and HIV infection, as these diseases increase the possibility of the body rejected the transplanted kidney. 

One of the key factors for a successful kidney transplant is the prevention of natural rejection of the transplanted kidney. This is a critical stage in the post surgical treatment, which is usually done by reducing the immunity of the body, thereby weakening or decreasing the tendency of the body to fight against a foreign particle. As expected, such treatment has its own unpleasant side effects. Some of the side effects are relapse, high blood cholesterol level, weakening of the bones, liver disease, cancer and infection.

To check the functioning of the transferred kidney, a regular maintenance of the blood pressure level, cholesterol level, urine output quantities, and blood tests should be performed.

Sometimes, kidney transplant is performed along with pancreatic transplantation as a result of diabetic nephropathy.