Kidney donation can save someone and improve their quality of life. Kidney donation can be from deceased or live donors.
Live related kidney donation is the commonest organ donation from live individuals in India and globally.
– It is one of the best alternatives for those who need a kidney. Altruism is major drive for family members to donate
– It is safe to be a living donor if appropriate work up is done for fitness for donation
– Recent advances in Immunology and treatment has enabled transplantation beyond blood groups
– Testing for fitness for Kidney donation include health fitness, functioning ability of each kidney, tissue type and matching with potential recipient and absence of any infection that could be transmitted
– Long term risk of disease to the remnant kidney can be well estimated from well validated scoring systems that are available online
– The evaluation involves blood, urine testing, scan of the kidneys to assess structure, size, blood flow and size and length of blood vessels that provide and return blood to the circulation
– Donor surgery can be different types based on technique: Open, laparoscopic and robotic
– Newer techniques have shortened recovery time and earlier return to work
– In India, the majority of donors are women !!!
– Kidney donation doesn’t affect fertility and women who have donated a kidney can safely undergo pregnancy after a year
– In India, Kidney transplantation is growing due to the combination of a well intended deceased donation policy, growth of transplant centers, better trained health care professionals, a robust pharmaceutical industry, capable immunological and pathology laboratories.
– The nature of surgery, likelihood of “Immunological fit”, fitness status of the live donor makes it the best kidney replacement therapy for patients on dialysis