After the successful transplant of a live kidney from a 44-year-old mother to her 22-year-old son, the Karnataka Institute of Medical Science (KIMS) became the first government medical college in the state to do so. And the KIMS is not stopping here; they are planning to do cadaver transplants in the near future.
Speaking to reporters, KIMS Director Dr Ramalingappa Antartani said that doing a live kidney transplant is one of the milestones in the institute’s history. It was a very difficult surgery, but the doctors’ team led by Dr Venkatesh Moger, HoD of Nephrology, Dr RR Raikar, Dr Jyadeep Ratkal, and Dr Madhuri accomplished the task with ease.
He congratulated all the teams involved in the surgery before and after the surgery. He said the patient was from Bilagi of Bagalkot, who was suffering from chronic glomerulonephritis. He was on dialysis and it was necessary for him to undergo the surgery. Her mother donated one of her kidneys to her son and both mother and son would be discharged at the earliest, he said.
Dr Ramalingappa stated that the surgery was performed free of cost under the ABARK scheme and that the kidney transplant surgery, which costs lakhs of rupees in private health care institutes, would be performed free of charge at KIMS. The government pays 25% of the procedure cost for above-poverty line cardholders under ABARK, and the surgery would cost nearly Rs 1.5 lakh for them, which is far less than what private hospitals charge, he said, adding that he was confident that the KIMS would conduct more such surgeries in the future.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Venkatesh Moger said that the patient was undergoing dialysis for six months, he was anaemic as well, and his creatinine level was also high. The surgery went smoothly; the doctor said it was two-hour surgery for the donor and a three-hour surgery for the receiver of the organ. He said they recovered well and were fit for discharge.
He said five to six patients who have chronic kidney disease have registered at KIMS and they are waiting to undergo kidney transplant surgery, doctors would operate on them as and when kidneys become available. He said that for live organ transplants, the law allows only first degree relatives to donate an organ. First degree relatives mean patients’ parents, siblings, offspring, and spouses. Recently, the government has amended the law to allow extended family to donate with the permission of the local state authorization committee, said Dr Moger.
The doctors said before the transplantation, they would evaluate both donor and donee and some tests would be conducted. If all the results favour, then the surgery would be conducted after getting all the necessary approvals from the competent authority, he said.
kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for many people with severe chronic kidney disease since the quality of life and life expectancy are often better than in dialysis patients.
Dr Venkatesh Moger, HoD Nephrology department, KIMS
Dr Mayya, Dr MR Patil, Dr Vivek Ganiger from the nephrology department, Dr Manjuprasad, Dr Ravikumar Jadhav, Dr Sampathkumar, Dr Takappa from the urology department, Dr Madhuri, Dr Bhosale, and Dr Sheetal Hiregoudar from the anaesthesia department were involved in the surgery, Shivanand Honakeri was the transplant coordinator.
During the media briefing, KIMS medical superintendent Dr Arunkumar C, deputy medical superintendent Dr Rajashekhar Dyaberi, KIMS principal Dr Ishwar Hosmani, Dr Laxmikant and others were present.
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