Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Renal transplant using laparoscopic method performed at MCH

Thiruvananthapuram: Amidst all its limitations, Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) here has pulled off a coup of sorts by successfully performing a renal transplant after removing the donor’s kidney using modern laparoscopic surgical methods.

This is the first time that laparoscopic donor nephrectomy is being performed in a hospital in the public health sector in the State, claims G. Venugopal, head of Unit III of the Urology department at the MCH, who led the team of doctors who performed simultaneous surgeries on the donor and the recipient.

Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy is a minimally invasive technique of kidney donation that involves least possible discomfort, pain and hospital stay for the donor.

Apart from the difficulty in finding a donor whose kidney can be transplanted to an end-stage renal patient, one major hurdle in renal transplant surgeries involving live donors is that the donor too has to undergo a major open surgery for removal of his kidney.

The new procedure, it is hoped, will encourage more people to come forward to donate kidneys to end-stage renal patients. At the MCH, only kidneys donated by relatives of the patients are accepted.

The kidney transplant was done on a 33-year-old patient, Biju, from Kollam who received a kidney from his elder sister, Vijayamani.

The laparoscopic live donor nephrectomy is at present done only in three major private hospitals in the State and can cost between Rs.2.5 lakh and Rs.3 lakh.

At the MCH, the procedure cost the patient between Rs.60,000 and Rs.80,000.

At present, two renal transplants are performed every month at the MCH.

Dr. Venugopal says that despite staff shortage and space constraints, the Urology division at the MCH is equipped to offer world-class treatment.

Modern surgical options such as transurethral resection of the prostrate, keyhole surgeries such as percutaneous nephro lithotripsy and laparoscopic pyeloplasty are offered for various nephro-urological conditions.

The department is also in the process of acquiring an ESWL machine that can help shatter simple stones in the kidney using ultrasonic waves.

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