So Why Do We Do Transplantation?

Mr Andrew Ready

Consultant Surgeon, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham

Why do we do transplantation? Essentially, because for most patients in end stage renal failure it provides the best treatment option and comes closest to life with normal renal function. In so doing, transplantation provides a better quality of life, improved survival and is more economical than its alternative dialysis.

However, it must be recognised that transplantation is not appropriate for all patients; the risks of operation and immunosuppression must be endured before the benefits can be enjoyed and careful pre-transplant selection of patients is essential. Furthermore, the effects of both end stage renal failure and the immunosuppression required to sustain a transplant can lead to significant and sometimes life-threatening medical problems.

To ensure that the benefits of transplantation continue to be enjoyed by our patients a holistic approach to transplant follow-up must be adopted. If such an approach is taken, transplant clinicians may be rewarded by witnessing their patients flourish and return to a life unrestricted by diets, fluid restrictions, persistent anaemia and bone pain. A life in which a return to full education and employment is usual and where the sub-normal fertility is replaced by the ability to successfully plan a family.

For these reasons, this is why we, as transplant clinicians ‘do transplantation’