The donor is usually admitted to the Hospital the day before surgery. The anesthesiologist and the rest of the Transplant Team will meet with the donor to explain the surgical procedure. The Team may order laboratory tests, including blood work, a chest X-ray, and an EKG as a final check of the donor's health status. The donor will be asked to fast 12 hours prior to surgery.

Anesthesia
On the day of surgery, a Transplant Anesthesiologist inserts an intravenous (IV) into the patient’s arm. This allows for the administration of medicine. One of the medicines is a sedative to make the patient relax. Prior to surgery, when the patient consents to surgery, doctors will explain more about the drugs the patient will receive and their side effects.

Prior to the surgery, the patient is “intubated.” This is when the anesthesiologist inserts a breathing tube. This helps the patient breathe during surgery. A catheter will also be inserted to drain urine from the bladder.

Patients are given general anesthesia during the procedure. They are completely unconscious throughout the surgery and do not feel pain.

The Kidney Transplant Surgical Procedure
In a living donor transplant procedure, the recipient's transplant operation follows the donor's operation.

The Donor’s Surgery
Most of the living donor transplants performed at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital are completed via “laparoscopic nephrectomy.”

In laparoscopic nephrectomy, the transplant surgeon makes several small incisions near the belly button. The abdomen is then inflated with a harmless carbon dioxide gas to provide room for the surgery. One of the incisions is used to insert a tiny camera to allow for video access so that the surgeons can see the surgery. The other incision points allow entry for the instruments to conduct the surgery.