Two doctor teams performed kidney swap on multiple patient-donors for 16 hours

Doctors at BR Life Kalinga Hospital successfully conducted a unique case of Kidney Swap Transplant recently. The patients were operated simultaneously for 16 hours by a team of doctors at B R Life Kalinga. The patients are doing well and are recovering satisfactorily.  Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is known to affect approximately 1 million people in India every year

 “In India, diabetes and hypertension are the leading causes resulting in 40–60% cases of Chronic Kidney Disease. With increasing incidence of CKD, the number of patients undergoing dialysis in India is also increasing by 10 – 15% every year. Once a person has developed kidney failure the only options are lifelong dialysis or kidney transplant. This can be avoided with timely intervention and by managing health conditions that cause kidney damage, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, extreme stress.” said Dr. Saiprasad Sahoo, Consultant Nephrologist, BR Life Kalinga Hospital

According to The Ministry of Health, the requirement for transplantation of kidneys could range between 2-3 Lakh per year with a mere 6,000 transplants occurring in reality. The major challenges for organ transplant in India are the sociocultural and religious barriers.  Even in case of live donor transplant, the chances of going forward with the procedure is rare.  One of the primary reasons in such cases is the mismatch of the blood groups due to which an organ cannot be transplanted and the ideal option is to opt for Kidney Swap Transplant. 

The Case

Ganeswar Sankhua, 38-year-old from Tukuna village, Keonjhar district of Odisha visited BR Life Kalinga hospital with a repeated episode of kidney failure.  He had undergone kidney transplant in a private hospital in Odisha. His mother was the donor, but unfortunately, it had failed within a span of four years.  His wife came forward to save the life of her spouse, but unfortunately their blood groups did not match.  The doctors suggested them to apply for the Kidney Swap Transplant. 

Similar was the case of 40-year old Sushant Kumar Sahu from Narasinghpur, Odisha. He had been under dialysis for six months.  A pharmacist by profession, he runs a medical store in his hometown.  Mr. Sahu was suffering from kidney disease for the past five years.  His wife offered to donate the kidney, but since their blood group did not match, they were unable to perform the procedure.  

“A vast majority of Chronic Kidney Disease patients in India fail to obtain a donor kidney.  They either have to opt for expensive dialysis or wait for a donor.  The lack of cadaver donors in our country and lack of matching blood types even when family members come forward has resulted in a serious imbalance.  The Kidney Swap Transplant aims to circumvent this problem, where the donors are swapped between two recipients with whom their blood group matches, making transplant a viable option,” said Dr. Manas Ranjan Pradhan, Sr. Consultant Urology and Transplant Surgeon, BR Life Kalinga Hospital.

In this case, post examination of the patients and the donors, it was decided that Mrs. Jayanti Sahu, (donor 1 and wife of Mr. Sahu) would donate her kidney to Mr. Sankhua (recipient 2) and Mrs. Arnapurna Peda (donor 2 and wife of Mr. Sankhua) would donate her kidney to Mr. Sahu (recipient 1).  Through this, both the women would be able to successfully save the lives of their respective spouse.

Although the problem of finding a donor was solved, it posed a unique challenge of conducting two surgeries simultaneously. Parallel surgeries were to be conducted wherein the organ would have to be harvested from the donors and transplanted to the blood group compatible recipients. Two teams were created for this, one lead by Dr. Manas Rajan Pradhan and the other by Dr. Biswajit Nanda. 

“This case was challenging as we performed four surgeries simultaneously. The surgery lasted for about four hours each. This was only possible in a multispecialty hospital due to availability of medical experts such as anesthesiologists, several assistant surgeons, nurses and paramedics working in coordination for the success of the surgery along with the availability of required medical technologies,” said Dr. Biswajit Nanda, Sr. Consultant, Urology and Transplant Surgeon, BR Life Kalinga Hospital.

Both the patients and their donors recovered well and were discharged home within 8 to 12 days of the procedure.As a post-surgery protocol, the doctors have advised them to avoid being in polluted areas, crowded places and stay protected against infections. The patients have been further advised to consume only home cooked food. 

“I am grateful to Dr. Manas, Dr. Biswajit and the entire team at BR Life Kalinga Hospital for having saved my life. I would also like to thank Mrs. Sahu for donating her kidney to me, without which, I would not be here with my family,” said Mr. Ganeswar Sankhua.

“I have been given a new lease of life, thanks to the doctors at BR Life Kalinga Hospital and Mrs. Sankhua for donating her kidney,” said Mr. Sushant Sahu.