Find exceptional care for donor and recipient and better outcomes from a leading transplant team.
A Team Approach to Care
We take a multidisciplinary approach to ensuring you and your donor receive the best care throughout the process, and that you achieve the best outcomes. Your team may consist of:
Physicians
Medical Team
When you need a kidney transplant, experience matters. The Christ Hospital Health Network is home to one of the nation's most established kidney transplant programs, with more than 2,100 kidney transplants performed since 1972.
Our transplant surgeons and multidisciplinary care team work closely with you throughout every stage of the transplant journey, from evaluation and preparation to surgery, recovery, and long-term follow-up care. We're committed to helping you understand your options, navigate the process with confidence, and achieve the best possible outcome.
Our program has been recognized as a Kidney Transplant Center of Excellence by OptumHealth for meeting rigorous quality standards and performance benchmarks.
There are no cures for kidney disease. The only treatment options for end-stage kidney disease are dialysis and a transplant from a deceased or living donor.
Dialysis is time-consuming and taxing on the body. In fact, ten percent of patients on dialysis die each year while awaiting a transplant. For some groups, such as elderly patients and those with diabetes, the risk is even greater.
Recipients are evaluated for transplant candidacy and if approved, they are placed on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) waiting list for a deceased donor transplant, unfortunately wait times are increasing nationally and there is no way to know when an organ is going to be available.
Living donations are the best options for patients waiting for a kidney. They can reduce the wait from years to months, potentially avoiding dialysis. Recipients also typically have better outcomes with living donations. Relatives, loved ones, friends, and even individuals who wish to remain anonymous may serve as living donors.
The decision to become a living donor should be voluntary and free from any pressure. The donor may change his or her mind at any time during the process. The donor's decision and reasons are kept confidential.
To qualify as a living kidney donor:
If you are interested in donating, please complete the Donor Registration Packet, and mail to 2139 Auburn Ave, Cincinnati OH, 45219, Room 5088. If you know which coordinator you are assigned to, please add specific attention to them.
Before surgery
Surgery
After surgery
Second day after surgery
Follow-up after donation
Additional follow-up with the transplant center is required at:
It is recommended that following your donation, you notify your primary care physician of your donation and continue to have regular follow-up with your doctor.
A laparoscope is a long thin wand, with a microscopic lens at the end that projects images back to a camera.
It is inserted into the donor's abdomen using a tiny incision, and air is inserted to separate the organs for better vision. Then, two long, thin surgical instruments are placed into the abdomen.
The donor lies on their side, and the only other incision that is usually needed is a small horizontal incision, near the groin, for removing the kidney. It is generally about three inches long and is placed low to hide the scar and to use an area where muscle can be pushed aside without having to be cut. Older “open” procedures required an incision running from the navel to the back for about eight inches.
The left kidney is the preferred kidney for removal, because its vein is longer than the right. Still, there may be medical reasons to remove the right kidney. With minor modifications, the laparoscopic technique can be used on the right side also.
The entire procedure takes about three and a half hours, which is very similar to the old method of operation. Because the intestines must be moved out of the way to remove the kidney, it can sometimes be two or three days before donors feel like eating again. However, the laparoscopic approach has resulted in shorter hospital stays and significantly less pain and discomfort for the donor and a quicker return to normal activity (usually within two to three weeks). Most living kidney donors will be eligible for the laparoscopic procedure.
Patients experience pain even after the laparoscopic approach and generally may need pain medicine for about a week. This medication will be supplied upon discharge. Shoulder pain, which is caused by the air pushed into the abdomen during the procedure, is common and can last several days to a week after the surgery. Driving can be resumed when the donor no longer needs pain medicine.
Only very vigorous physical activity such as weightlifting, other very heavy lifting or full contact sports need to be restricted for more than a week or two. A follow-up visit with the patient's surgeon is arranged for two weeks after the operation. Complications are unusual, but may occur as with any surgery. The surgeon will review potential complications with you in detail before the operation.
Most costs for the living donor are covered by the recipient's insurance coverage. However, this may vary with individual insurance payors. If you have questions about payment, please ask to speak to one of our financial counselors, and they will be happy to assist you.
There are two types of living kidney donors - related and unrelated.
Living related donors are healthy blood relatives of the patient requiring a transplant. The donor can be:
Living "unrelated" or "emotionally related" donors are not blood relatives and usually do not share tissue similarities with the recipient. The donor can be:
Potential donors must:
The evaluation of the living donor includes a medical history and physical exam, as well as tests for kidney function (blood and urine tests), liver function, cholesterol, hepatitis, HIV and other viral antibody tests.
Within a few months after the removal of one kidney, the remaining kidney enlarges and assumes approximately 90 percent of the function the kidneys had prior to donation. The life expectancy and general health of the living donor are not affected by the donation of one kidney. Therefore, life insurance premiums are not altered by kidney donation.
Process: You have a genuine willingness to donate.
Follow-up: Call us at call 513-585-2493 or toll free 1-800-527-8919 ext. 52493 to let us know you are interested in donating a kidney to your loved one or friend.
Process: We test your blood to determine if you are compatible.
Follow-up: Basic information about your health status will be requested at this time to determine if you are healthy enough to be tested as a donor. If this initial screening is passed successfully, plans will be made to test your blood.
Process: If you are willing to proceed, arrangements are made for blood testing.
Follow-up: Your transplant nurse or doctor will call you and discuss the results. It may take eight to 10 days to obtain the blood test results.
Process: If you are a suitable donor and if you are willing to proceed, arrangements are made for your medical evaluation.
Follow-up: The transplant office will arrange an appointment at the transplant clinic for your medical evaluation. If you live out of town, the transplant nurse will try to arrange a workup at the nearest transplant center or your family doctor's office.
Process: Your completed tests and reports are reviewed by the transplant physicians and nurses.
Follow-up: Any additional testing that is necessary will be arranged by the transplant nurse.
Process: If you are accepted as a living donor, final X-ray and compatibility testing is scheduled.
Follow-up: Your transplant nurse will schedule these tests. The final X-ray is called a renal angiogram. It is an invasive procedure done as an outpatient, but you will need to spend the day in the hospital. The findings will help the surgeons determine if the kidney can be removed laparoscopically.
Process: If your tests are satisfactory, the transplant is scheduled.
Follow-up: The transplant office will schedule a date with you and the transplant team.
If you would like to talk to someone who has been a living donor, the transplant nurse will be happy to provide a contact person with whom you can discuss the donation process.
You may be referred to our program for evaluation by your nephrologist (kidney doctor). Find out how to initiate a referral by contacting our Kidney Transplant Program at 513-585-2493. Once your referral is received we will contact you to schedule an appointment for a transplant education class. Classes are held the first and third Tuesday of every month from 9-11. The class is free of charge.
Here are some of the steps in the pre-transplant referral process:
If you receive a kidney transplant from a living donor, the surgery is scheduled, and multiple tests and lab work are done leading up to the surgery. You and your donor will come in approximately 13 days before your surgery to meet with your nurse coordinator, social worker, anesthesiologist, pharmacist, and other transplant staff to ensure you are ready for the surgery.
If you are waiting for a deceased donor kidney you must be able to be reached by phone at all times. There is no way to know when an organ is going to become available. When a kidney becomes available you will be notified by the transplant coordinator and instructed on where to go. You will have multiple lab tests done prior to the surgery to ensure you are ready for transplant.
For living and deceased donor transplants the surgery will generally last four to six hours. You will then go to the Patient Acute Care Unit (PACU) followed by the Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) for further monitoring. You will likely stay in the SICU for a day and then be transferred to 2 South, which is the Kidney transplant unit. There you will be followed by the transplant team.
Your hospital stay is usually between 4-7 days. During your inpatient stay you will be seen daily by transplant surgeons, nephrologists, your transplant coordinator, social worker, dietician, and transplant pharmacist.
Your nurse coordinator will arrange any follow up needed after you are discharged from the hospital and go over all of your discharge teaching. The social worker will work with your pharmacy to make sure all of your medications are filled and available for when you leave the hospital.
Once you are discharged you will continue to be followed on an outpatient basis. You will follow up with a transplant nephrologist in their office three times a week.
The frequency of your office visits will vary based on your nephrologist, and how your new kidney is functioning. During these appointments you will have lab work completed, and you will meet with a nephrologist. During these appointments it is important that you communicate with your nephrologist any changes you have experienced, or any problems related to medications you may be having.
You will not be able to drive yourself to these appointments for the initial 3 weeks following your surgery.
