Kidney Transplant - Adult

For patients with advanced kidney failure, kidney transplantation is the best option. All patients with advanced renal (kidney) failure who are on dialysis, or have impending need for renal replacement therapy, are potential candidates for kidney transplantation. Kidney transplant recipients have longer survival and better quality of life compared to patients on long-term dialysis. After enduring sometimes years of chronic kidney failure — transplant recipients feel better, have more energy, and for as long as their new kidney continues to function healthily, they are freed from dialysis.

Kidneys for transplantation can come from either a deceased or a living donor. Because nearly everyone is born with two kidneys but needs only one to live, relatives or close friends are able to donate one of their kidneys to a patient who requires a healthy organ.

Potential recipients undergo detailed medical and psychosocial evaluations to ensure that they are acceptable candidates, and living donor candidates also undergo an extensive evaluation to provide for their safety and well-being.

The Mount Sinai Medical Center, one of the leading transplant centers in New York, began performing kidney transplantation more than 30 years ago. More than 1,700 patients later, we are proud to achieve transplant success rates that exceed the national average.

Virtually all living donor surgeries are done laparoscopically— using specially designed instruments and cameras to conduct surgery through small incisions— a procedure that dramatically reduces discomfort and recovery time. A majority of donors are discharged within 48 hours after surgery. Kidney transplant recipients are mostly discharged between three to five days after transplantation.