A Kidney Transplant Center's Initial Experiences in Eastern Turkey

Abstract Objectives Kidney transplantation is the best treatment method associated with improved quality of life and better survival for patients with end-stage renal disease. We started performing kidney transplantations in November 2010. We have performed 19 kidney transplantations so far. Fourteen of these were from living donors and five from deceased donors. Here, we present our initial experiences with 14 kidney transplant recipients from living donor kidney transplantations. Materials and methods All recipients and their donors underwent detailed clinical history and examination. Recipients and their donors were followed in the transplant clinic during hospitalization. Results The male-to-female ratio was 11:3 in recipients. The mean age of recipients was 27.8 years (range 4–58 years). The number of the related, emotionally related, and unrelated transplantations were 9, 3, 2, respectively. The mean warm ischemic time was 95.7 seconds (range 52–168 seconds). Urine output started immediately after vascular anastomosis in all. The mean time of discharge from hospital was postoperative day 8 (range 4–18 days). The mean flow up was 125 days (range 18–210 days). Graft survival was 100% in this period, but one patient died from sepsis after 56 days. No kidney was lost from rejection, technical causes, infection, or recurrent disease. Conclusion If transplant centers are as equipped and experienced as ours, kidney transplant programs should be started immediately so that they can reduce the number of the patients in waiting list for kidney transplantation.