Statistics reveal kidney donation a safe process

Transplant surgeon Dr Dorry L. Segev, associate professor of surgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine declared, "If you are cleared by a transplant center to donate your kidney, donating your kidney is a safe operation. And you don't have any increased risk of dying down the road with one kidney as compared to matched health people who have two kidneys."

The researchers conducted a nationwide survey to analyze the potential health risks to donors.

They studied the effect of live kidney surgery on 80,347 donors from April 1, 1994 to March 31, 2009 and compared them with data from 9,364 participants of the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 1988 and 1994.

The outcome of the survey
The statistics of the survey revealed 25 deaths occurred in the first 90 days after surgery, the risk amounting to 3.1 deaths per 10,000 subjects, compared with a rate of 0.4 per 10,000 in the control group.

The analysis found that within a period of five years the mortality rate was the same in both groups. After 12 years, only 1.5 per cent of donors had died compared to 2.9 per cent among people who had not donated.

The risk of death from surgery was higher in men than women. Additionally, it was slightly elevated in African-Americans compared with Caucasians and Hispanics. Also the mortality risk was higher in those with hypertension.

"Surgical mortality did not change during the 15-year period, despite differences in surgical practice and donor selection," the authors wrote.

Live kidney donation safe
According to scientists, the risk from gallbladder removal is nearly six times higher whereas the risk from non-donor nephrectomy (removing a kidney because of cancer or another medical reason) is hundred times higher than donating a kidney.

Segev stated, “Donating a kidney is safe. Live donors start healthy and it’s the highest priority of the surgeon and the entire transplant community to make sure they stay healthy.

“This study says we have succeeded. While there are never any guarantees with surgery, donating a kidney is safer than undergoing almost any other operation.”

Laparoscopic surgery
Most of the centers have made the gradual transition from open-abdomen kidney removal to minimally invasive, laparoscopic surgery (so-called peephole surgery), a procedure that leaves just tiny scars and requires shorter recuperation period.

Donors and recipients do not have to be related, though a specific kind of blood antigen match is necessary. Transplant centers now allow older patients and patients with other diseases to donate kidneys.

However, donating is a serious issue and should be opted for only after consultation with transplant professionals.

The researchers conclude, "Although additional studies are clearly needed to better understand the physiologic changes after kidney donation, the current practice of live kidney donation should continue to be considered a reasonable and safe modality for addressing the profound shortage in deceased donor organs."

The study is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.