Kidney Transplant Process
The Workup
Rady Children’s Hospital Kidney Transplant is one of the leading pediatric transplant centers in the nation teaming with UC San Diego to provide excellent care to our patients. End Stage Renal Disease can come from many disease processes leading to kidney failure resulting in the need for dialysis or kidney transplant. Once your nephrologist refers you to the kidney transplant team a highly skilled and specialized team of doctors, surgeons, nurses, social workers, dietitians, and financial coordinators work together to coordinate an individualized care plan and start the medical evaluation process.

Patients have a comprehensive examination including:
- Lab work
- Imaging ultrasounds and CT
- Urine Tests
- Cardiac Workup
- Nutritional evaluation
- Psychological and mental well-being follow-up
While the medical workup is being completed the team will discuss transplant options. There are two options available for a donor organ: a kidney from a deceased donor or a kidney from a living donor. When an organ from a deceased donor becomes available, priority is determined based on the patient’s blood type, size and genetic match with the donor, plus the length of time he or she has been on the waiting list. The waiting list is maintained by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
Living-related donation eliminates the need to wait for a compatible deceased donor, and the transplanted organs tend to last longer and function better.
The Surgery
The average kidney transplant takes three hours. In most cases, surgeons use a laparoscopic technique to remove the kidney from a live donor, which minimizes postoperative pain and recovery time. Using an incision approximately two inches long and endoscopic instruments allows surgeons to avoid cutting through abdominal muscles, as is required in the open technique. The new kidney is inserted into the recipient through an incision in the lower abdomen.
The average pediatric kidney transplant can be performed in three to four hours. The new organ is inserted and connected to a vein, an artery, and to the bladder. The donor spends between two and five days in the hospital and is then on limited activity for approximately six weeks.
The Recovery
Rady Children’s understands that healing doesn’t happen overnight. That’s why the Kidney Transplant team is committed to educating and supporting every patient and family before, during, and after the transplant process.
Once a child is referred to Rady Children’s, the transplant team spends considerable time explaining the benefits and drawbacks of the procedure to the patient and his or her family. A social worker evaluates the family’s ability to provide support, a critical element to the healing and recovery process.
Immediately after transplant, patients recover in the intensive care unit until stable enough to transfer to the intermediate care unit. In the immediate care unit, the child and his/her parents learn to administer medications under the close supervision of the transplant coordinator, pharmacist, and nurses. Nutritional counseling and physical therapy provide patients and their families with the tools to aid in a speedy recovery.
Transplant physicians and surgeons schedule weekly follow-up appointments to check up on the child’s progress once they are discharged from the hospital, in addition to frequent blood work. Patients are followed very closely after transplantation and communicate with the transplant team multiple times a week. The relationship that is created is integral to the success of the transplant and the well-being of the patients.