Kidney transplant

If you’ve been diagnosed with end-state kidney disease and have chosen kidney transplantation as your treatment option, there are several steps in the process to qualify as a transplant candidate. These include a thorough evaluation by our team of kidney transplant surgeons, nephrologists and other specialists. Once you are referred to the transplant program – either by your nephrologist, dialysis center or self-referral – you will undergo an evaluation to assess your eligibility for a kidney transplant.

Kidney transplant candidate requirement process

A series of blood tests are required for all transplant candidates. Additionally, your evaluation process will require diagnostic imaging tests, including:

• Abdominal computerized tomography (CT) scan
• Chest X-ray
• Electrocardiogram (EKG)

Final kidney transplant evaluation review

Once the evaluation appointments and all diagnostic testing have been completed, the transplant coordinator will present your results to the Medical Review Board (MRB). If you are a candidate for transplantation, your name will be placed on the national organ waiting list.

When a kidney is identified as a possible match for you, a special blood test called a "crossmatch" will be performed in the lab with your blood and the kidney donor's blood to assess compatibility. If you are compatible, the kidney transplant surgery will proceed as planned. If you are incompatible, you will remain on the list for the next available kidney.

The kidney transplantation surgery takes about two to four hours to complete. The average hospital stay after a kidney transplant is about five to seven days. After surgery, you will typically spend the first 24 to 48 hours in the transplant intensive care unit (TICU) before being transferred to the transplant unit for the remainder of your hospital stay.

Kidney donations from living donors

One option available to some kidney transplant patients is to receive a kidney from a living donor. Live kidney donation offers many advantages and is a central part of our program. The living donor may be a blood relative, spouse or friend.

Robotic live kidney donation

We are proud to be the first hospital in Florida to perform robotic nephrectomy (surgical kidney removal) for living organ donors. With robotic surgery, living kidney donation can be performed in a shorter period of time, and donors can go home sooner with less pain and faster recovery times.

The benefits of live kidney donation include:

• Better graft survival
• Immediate graft function
• Increased donor pool
• Shorter times on organ donor waiting lists

Learn more about the living donor referral process.

Our team of transplant specialists is here to support you, and our hospital is approved by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) for kidney and liver transplantation. If you are a candidate for a kidney transplant, you will have the support of our dedicated team members, which include a:

• Dietitian
• Financial coordinator
• Social worker
• Transplant coordinator
• Transplant nephrologist
• Transplant pharmacist
• Transplant surgeon