AIIMS Raipur performs its first swap kidney transplant, a glimmer of hope for patients suffering from end-stage kidney disease
Patients waiting for a kidney transplant can be assured of hopeful days ahead with the latest remarkable achievement by AIIMS Raipur in the healthcare sector.
AIIMS Raipur successfully performed its first Swap Kidney Transplant, also known as a Kidney Paired Transplant (KPT). With this feat, the government hospital becomes the first among the newer AIIMS institutions and the first in Chhattisgarh to carry out this complex and life-saving procedure.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, it is estimated that Swap Kidney Transplants can lead to a 15% increase in the number of transplants.
What is a Swap Transplant?
Through a Swap Transplant, a patient with renal failure who has a willing living donor—but is unable to receive the kidney due to an incompatible blood group or the presence of HLA antibodies—can still undergo a transplant by exchanging donors with another incompatible pair.
In this arrangement both recipients are benefitted as they receive compatible kidneys, resulting in successful transplants for both pairs. Thus, addressing a very critical issue regarding kidney transplants.
The swap transplant team at AIIMS Raipur consisted of Dr Vinay Rathore (Transplant Physician), Dr Amit R Sharma, Dr Deepak Biswal and Dr Satyadeo Sharma (Transplant Surgeons), Dr Subrat Singha, Dr Mayank, Dr Jitendra and Dr Sarita Ramchandani (Anaesthesiologists) and other Transplant Co-ordinator team members and OT and Transplant Nursing staff.
Considering the potential of the transplant procedure, the National Organisation and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) has recommended the implementation of Swap donor transplantation in all the states and Union Territories. This option could increase the number of donors.
NOTTO has also decided to have a ‘uniform one nation one swap transplant programme’ to facilitate these transplants more effectively across the country.
Health