Lohia Hospital in Lucknow to soon offer the facility of ABO-incompatible kidney transplant

Lucknow's Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences (RMLIMS) will soon offer the facility of incompatible (mismatch blood group) kidney transplants. This will bring significant relief to the patients suffering from end-stage chronic kidney diseases, who are unable to fetch a matched donor for a transplant. As a part of the new procedure, such individuals can use the donated kidneys from persons with a different blood group.

RMLIMS second in the city to perform this process

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Once the new process is launched, the waiting time for kidney transplants will be reduced remarkably. In addition to this, doctors will be able to save lives that are lost during the waiting period. Notably, this procedure is already performed at the city's premier healthcare institute-SGPGIMS and now, RMLIMS will be second to join this league.

While a list of benefits can be expected, it is noteworthy that the surgery will be double the usual amount of ₹2.5 to ₹3 lakh. This is due to the long hospital stay after surgery, drug use and other special processes. Further, it has been observed that both ABO and normal transplants have a success rate of nearly 90%.

Donor-recipient pair marked by the doctors at RMLIMS

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Prof Abhilash Chandra, head of the nephrology department, RMLIMS, said, "It is often seen that patients do not find a donor with a compatible blood group and they keep delaying transplant. In this situation, ABO incompatible (mismatched blood group) transplantation of kidneys can be a viable option." He further stated that efforts are being executed in this direction and the ABO-incompatible transplant will be available for patients soon.

He said that a donor-recipient pair has been identified already and it is anticipated that the procedure will take place in the next month. Explaining the process, the doctor informed that if the donor's blood group does not match with the recipient's, then the antibodies in the recipient body refuse to accept the transplanted organs. On the other hand, such antibodies are systematically removed via a procedure called plasmapheresis in case of an ABO-incompatible transplant.

He further stated, "Immunosuppressants are also given to reduce the chances of rejection. RMLIMS now has required facilities to perform this procedure." Previously, a number of lives have been saved with this process at SGPGIMS and the addition of a new healthcare facility will further drive the count upwards.

- With inputs from IANS