For a person with kidney failure, a lifetime on dialysis is a painful and depressing course of action. However, a kidney transplant can give such people hope and a new lease on life. While typically people go on dialysis for while before getting a kidney transplant, some people actually benefit from a pre-emptive transplant. One kidney can do the work of two so only a single donated kidney is enough two to replace two which have failed. There are broadly two kinds of kidney transplant – living-donor and deceased-donor.
Living-donor Transplant the name implies, in this case the donated kidney comes from a living person. Since one kidney is enough to do the work of two, it is very common for family members to donate one of their kidneys. Close family relatives will also have a higher chance of compatibility. This constitutes about a third of all kidney transplants. Living donor transplants have certain advantages. A patient spends less time on a waiting list for dead donors. This prevents greater deterioration of health and pain experienced from it. It also has greater survival rates in the short and long term.
Deceased-donor Transplant This constitutes nearly two-thirds of all transplants. The donated kidney comes from a recently deceased person. It is usually harvested from the person immediately after death and stored either on ice or on a machine which maintains its functions. At Sri Ramakrishna Hospital we have extensive experience and great success with both forms of renal transplant. We also have the capability to perform ABO incompatible transplants. This is a form of transplant where the donor’s blood type is incompatible with the recipient. Through advances in modern medical technology, the usually incompatible antibodies are no longer an obstacle to a successful transplant.
Retrograde Intrarenal Surgery (RIRS)
Here at
Sri Ramakrishna Hospital we are equipped to perform modern surgical procedures. One such procedure practised by the Department of
Nephrology and Urology is RIRS (Retrograde Intrarenal Surgery). A fibreoptic endoscope is a thin, flexible device which allows the surgeon to view the inside of the body while performing surgery. In this case, the endoscope is passed through the urinary opening (urethra) and into the region of the kidney which collects urine.
The surgeon can then view the area and use a suitable method to deal with the condition. If it is a
kidney stone, the surgeon might either evaporated the stone using a
LASER or even held and removed using tipless basket. RIRS can only be performed by urologists with special training and expertise. The patient is usually placed under general anaesthesia or spinal anaesthesia. It is a quick and non-invasive procedure which allows much faster patient recovery times.
One possible treatment for men suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED) is the implantation of a penile prosthesis. A typical penile prosthesis is made up of two cylinders, a pump and a reservoir. These are surgically placed within the body. The two cylinders are placed within the penis. They are connected via a tube to the reservoir which contains fluid. The pump is connected to the system. It sits beneath the skin of the scrotal sac, between the testicles. The reservoir is placed beneath the muscles of the groin. In order to gain an erection, the man must press the pump. To ‘deflate’ he will press another valve at the base of the pump. There are different models of implants which different in levels of sophistication and mechanics.
Please consult our excellent team of Urologist & Andrologist at Sri Ramakrishna Hospital to determine which would be best for you.
This is more commonly known as ‘keyhole’ or ‘minimally invasive’ surgery. Laparoscopic surgery is a technique wherein surgery is performed through tiny incisions in the skin, rather than the more conventional ‘open’ methods which require large incisions. These tiny incisions are used to pass specialised instruments such as an endoscope (used to view the internals of the body) and microsurgical devices into the affected area. Using these, a surgeon gets a magnified view of the affected area and can make precise cuts and excisions exactly where required.
The advantages of this form of surgery as compared to open surgery are manifold – minimal blood loss, fast recovery, low pain inflicted and little to no scarring. At Sri Ramakrishna Hospital, the Department of Nephrology and Urology uses laparoscopic surgery to treat a number of conditions. Some of the laparoscopic procedures performed are as follows.
- Laparoscopic nephrectomy
- Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy
- Laparoscopic removal of kidney stones
- Laparoscopic adrenalectomy
- Laparoscopic pyeloplasty
