You should plan to spend about five days in the hospital after your kidney transplant. Once you arrive at the hospital, many tests will be performed including another chest x-ray, EKG, urine studies and blood tests.
You will not be able to eat or drink anything for eight hours before the surgery. Both the surgeon
and the anesthesiologist will meet with you before the surgery and explain the procedure and how you will be put to sleep.
If you receive a living donor kidney, the transplant surgery will be scheduled in advance. If you receive a deceased donor kidney you will be called to the hospital when one becomes available.
The kidney transplant surgery will take anywhere from 3 – 4 hours to complete. You will be given general anesthesia to put you to sleep during surgery.
Once you are asleep, a catheter will be placed into your bladder in order to accurately measure your urine output. This catheter will stay in for 3-5 days after your surgery.
After you are asleep, an incision about eight inches long is either made on the right or left side of your lower abdomen.
The new kidney is placed beneath the incision and the kidney blood vessels are attached to the artery and vein that supply your leg.
The ureter of the donor kidney is sewn to your bladder. Unless your doctor feels it is necessary, your diseased kidneys will not be removed.
You will be taken to the SICU once your surgery is completed. You may have a ‘stent’ placed during the surgery, where the transplanted ureter is attached to your bladder.
This stent can may help prevent urine from leaking while the connection heals. This stent is usually removed 2 weeks after the transplant in our urologists’ outpatient clinic.