A 34-year-old man who underwent the first cadaver kidney transplantation at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), using a kidney from a brain-dead patient, was ready to get discharged on Friday, according to hospital authorities.
CMCH Dean B. Asokan said on Thursday that the transplantation done on February 5 was a success and the kidney transplanted in the recipient, an autorickshaw driver, was functional.
“The patient was under close observation of the medical team during the post-operative period. In non-related kidney transplantation, the chances of the body rejecting a transplanted organ are high. The patient was given immunosuppressants and was supported with dialysis till the transplanted kidney became functional. He will be able to go to work soon,” said Dr. Asokan.
Though CMCH has been doing living-related kidney transplantation, it harvested organs from a brain-dead person and transplanted a kidney in a needy patient for the first time on February 5.
Dr. Asokan said that the hospital had been witnessing around 80 serious head injury cases per month, mostly accident victims. Many of these accident victims do not respond to treatment and are declared brain-dead. More awareness was needed among the public on donating organs of brain-dead persons.