Max Hospital Launch Renal Transplant Unit :2 patients get successfully operated for kidney transplant surgery

By 1 2 1 News Reporter

Chandigarh 21^st August:--- Max Super Specialty Hospital, Mohali today launched Renal Transplant Unit. While Addressing to the Media Dr Munish Chauhan, Consultant,  Nephrology, Head, Nephrology Unit said that due to growing population of diabetes and hypertension, each year about 2-lakh new patients developed chronic kidney failure(CRF) in our country. Whereas transplant would take place in only about 5000 cases, because of lack of awareness of people and unavailability of donor. This huge discrepancy between need and supply could be bridged, if organs from accident victims (around 4-lakh) dying every year, were made available for transplant, pointed out Dr Chauhan. He further said, the other most viable option was donor swapping and transplantation from ABO-blood group incompatible donors. Such transplants which were considered high risk in the past were now days possible with good short term and acceptable long term results in lieu of efficient immunosuppressive treatment protocols available, he maintained.

Discussing about how chronic kidney failure leads to irreversible damage to the kidneys, Dr Munish Chauhan said that CRF was progressive in nature and irreversible damage to the kidneys (occurring over a long period of time-often many years) could happen mainly because of diabetes, hypertension, infection, urinary obstruction, stone disease and some inherited abnormalities. Advanced stage of CRF or End Stage Renal Disease ( ESRD) required some form of Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) like Hemodialysis (filtering the blood off toxins & waste products), Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) or a Transplant. As of now, Kidney Transplant was the best treatment option for any suitable patient with ESRD, he asserted. Elucidating the benefits of a renal transplant to the patient in the long run, Dr Chauhan said that although it appeared to be an expensive investment at the outset, kidney transplant was the most economical amongst the three RRT options in long run, and also provided the best quality of life compared to that in dialysis or CAPD.

Talking about organ donation, Dr. Sanand Bag -- Consultant Urologist, Laparoscopic & Transplant Surgeon said that generally we were more skeptical about our own well-being when somebody was asked to donate one kidney, one would need to understand that donating one kidney did not affect the physical abilities, quality of life or longevity of a person. Many cross sectional observations in persons who have lost one kidney to trauma, infection or other disease, retrospective analyses, as well as long term prospective studies have proven long term safety of kidney donors. Again the best match for a kidney would be that from a twin (which was a rarely available), and better match was that from first degree relatives in terms of graft take up and long term out come. Now days, we offered donor's operation by laparoscopy which is less painful (than open operation), enabled faster recovery and early return to work.