Kidney Transplantation

Summary

A kidney transplant is an operation that places a healthy kidney in your body. The transplanted kidney takes over the work of the two kidneys that failed, so you no longer need dialysis.

During a transplant, the surgeon places the new kidney in your lower abdomen and connects the artery and vein of the new kidney to your artery and vein. Often, the new kidney will start making urine as soon as your blood starts flowing through it. But sometimes it takes a few weeks to start working.

Many transplanted kidneys come from donors who have died. Some come from a living family member. The wait for a new kidney can be long.

If you have a transplant, you must take drugs for the rest of your life, to keep your body from rejecting the new kidney.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Kidney Transplantation National Institutes of Health

Living With

• Diet and Transplantation National Kidney Foundation
• From Illness to Wellness: Life After Transplantation National Kidney Foundation

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine

• Getting a Kidney Transplant: What You Need to Know
• Kidney Transplant: Improving Organ Donation for All
• Patient’s Kidney Transplant Journey
• Study Shows Kidney Transplants Between People with HIV is Safe

Children

• How Do Health Care Professionals Treat Kidney Failure in Children? National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Related Issues

• If You Have Kidney Disease, You Need to Get a Flu Shot this Fall National Kidney Foundation
• Solitary Kidney National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
• Travel Tips: A Guide for Kidney Patients National Kidney Foundation
• What Vaccinations Do You Need? National Kidney Foundation

Treatments and Therapies

• Immunosuppressants National Kidney Foundation

Statistics and Research

• Kidney Facts United Network for Organ Sharing
• Protein-Based Urine Test Predicts Kidney Transplant Outcomes National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
• The SRTR/OPTN Annual Data Report Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients

Patient Handouts

• Kidney transplant Medical Encyclopedia

Start Here

• Kidney Transplant National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
• Kidney Transplant National Kidney Foundation
• Kidney Transplant Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

Images

• Kidney transplant – series — Normal anatomy Medical Encyclopedia

Specifics

• Kidney-Pancreas Transplant National Kidney Foundation

Reference Desk

• Kidneys and Urinary Tract (For Parents) Nemours Foundation
• Your Kidneys and How They Work National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Find an Expert

• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
• National Kidney Foundation National Kidney Foundation
• Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Health Resources and Services Administration

Women

• Pregnancy and Kidney Disease National Kidney Foundation

Journal Articles

• Kidney Transplantation