Doctors perform kidney transplant on awake patient

[bbeba103]

Doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago have performed a kidney transplant on a patient who was awake the whole time.

They say the technique used updated anesthesia methods which may now be used for more patients who would be considered too risky to go fully under, which is the standard now.

The patient, 28-year-old kidney disease patient John Nicols, paves the way for more patients who are older and have more risks.

"There are a lot of people that have heart and lung disease that also need a kidney transplant, and that just increases the risk of general anesthesia even more," Dr. Satish Nadig, Comprehensive Transplant Center director and chief of abdominal transplant surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago told Scripps News.

"There's a lot of people out there [and] they're very high risks for intubation, meaning getting a tube put into their throat to help them breathe. Very high risk for being on a ventilator. A lot of older people that need kidney transplants get cognitive or neurologic issues after general anesthesia," said Dr. Nadig.

Right now, kidney transplants are usually done with a patient fully unconscious under general anesthesia. In Nichols' case, doctors used a spinal shot, also used in abdominal and pelvic surgeries like cesarean sections to deliver babies.

Doing anesthesia for the awake kidney transplant was easier than many C-sections," Dr. Vicente Garcia Tomas, chief of regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital said in a press release. "For John's case, we placed a spinal anesthesia shot in the operating room with a little bit of sedation for comfort. It was incredibly simple and uneventful, but allowed John to be awake for the procedure.

That lowers the chance for complications. Research shows infection, bed sores, and bad drug reaction risk goes up the longer someone stays in the hospital.

Next, Nadig says they've identified five more patients for awake kidney transplants, opening the door to those considered too risky for general anesthesia.

[S_dillow]

uh uh noooo way...lol.me scaredy cat

[Porter20 in reply to S_dillow]

I had a c-section and that is a much worse surgery.

[bbeba103]

At some point I would have considered being a wake during surgery.

I was terrified of being put to sleep, after 3 colonoscopy and being put to sleep for two I'm not as scared as I use to be.

[Benjamin124]

The awake kidney transplant at Northwestern Memorial Hospital offers hope for higher-risk patients.

It's a breakthrough in anesthesia methods, potentially benefiting many more in need.

[jflorax]

That's amazing. I've had 2 c-sections that way, recovery is so much faster than being fully under

[GoodHealthIsAJourney]

Wow - this is truly exciting news! For many patients, the anesthesia is a higher risk than the surgery itself. Thank you for sharing this!!

[bbeba103 in reply to GoodHealthIsAJourney]

You're welcome 🌹

[barbara55109]

Cool. I had something similar for an endoscope down my throat to my stomach. They said I'd be awake, but the relaxer drug totally knocked me out and I didn't remember a thing.

[pheebee]

I think the shock of being awake would finish me off!