Living with a Transplant

A kidney transplant is another treatment option for kidney failure, but like dialysis it is not a cure. It is a surgical procedure which can give you a healthy functioning kidney. The 'new' kidney will perform the functions that the failed kidneys cannot. Transplantation offers people with kidney failure increased independence and freedom from the constraints of dialysis. Following a transplant more normal, active life can be resumed. However, the new kidney requires lifetime management and care.

Transplants are available to medically suitable patients, usually after they have been stabilised on dialysis. Not everyone is suitable for a transplant, your doctor will discuss this with you. Factors that influence your eligibility for a transplant include your general physical health (excluding kidney failure), your willingness to undergo the procedures involved and your acceptance of the idea of transplantation.

Transplant surgery is very successful, over 90% of transplants are working one year later. The procedure takes two to three hours, placing the kidney in the pelvis, near the bladder, through an incision in the lower part of the abdomen. Usually the old kidneys are not removed. As long as the transplanted kidney remains healthy a kidney transplant means that you will not have to continue regular long-term dialysis or have the dietary and lifestyle restrictions imposed by dialysis.

After a transplant immunosuppressive drugs are necessary for the rest of the person's life to prevent the transplant from being rejected by the body. If a transplant is rejected dialysis treatment will again be necessary.