10 frequently asked questions (FAQs) about kidney transplants
1. What is the life expectancy of a transplanted kidney?
On average, a kidney transplant from a living donor lasts for 15-20 years, while a kidney from a deceased donor lasts 10-15 years. Kidney survival is improving (Poggio, 2021).
But is very variable depending on the age of the donor and patient, and other medical issues. Please speak to your kidney care team for more personalised information.
So younger patients may need more than one transplant in their lives.
2. How successful are kidney transplants – kidney and patient survival?
Kidney survival
For patients that receive a living donor kidney transplant, 98 out of 100 kidneys are working after one year, and 93 out of 100 after five years.
For patients that receive a deceased donor kidney transplant, 95 out of 100 kidneys are working after one year, and 86 out of 100 after five years.
Patient survival
For patients that receive a living donor kidney transplant, 99 out of 100 patients are alive after one year and 94 out of 100 are alive after five years.
For patients that receive a deceased donor kidney transplant, 96 out of 100 patients are alive after one year, 87 out of 100 are alive after five years, and 72 out of 100 after ten years.
This information is from the NHS Blood and Transplant Annual Report on Kidney Transplantation (2022/2023).
3. What is the longest a transplanted kidney has lasted?
Some patients have had a kidney transplant that has kept working for more than 40 years. Up-to-date records on the longest functioning kidney transplant are not kept.
4. What is the maximum age for a kidney transplant?
All decisions on transplantation are made on a case-by-case basis. But most patients over 70 years will need a very thorough assessment to make sure they are suitable.
If you have concerns that you might be too old for a kidney transplant, please discuss this with your kidney team.
5. How long does transplant workup take?
If you wish to be on the deceased donor waiting list, transplant workup usually takes about 6 months. This means the tests that are needed to see if it is safe for you to have a transplant, and is likely to work.
If you have a living donor, again it usually takes 6 months to have the required tests on you and your donor and to arrange the transplant.
6. How long does it take to recover from a kidney transplant?
Everyone recovers at a different rate after a kidney transplant. For patients that worked before the transplant, they are usually back to work within 2-3 months of the transplant.
In this early period, you will be visiting the transplant clinic very frequently, and having a blood test every time. This will initially be 3x a week, then when stable 2x a week, weekly, every two weeks, monthly etc.
After 6 months after your operation have passed, it is likely that your kidney function will be stable and you won’t need to come to the transplant clinic as often.
Also after 6 months, the risk of transplant rejection is lower and your medicines will usually be reduced.
7. Can I die from a kidney transplant?
Yes. As with any major operation, there is a small risk of dying, but this is rare. The average risk of dying during the first few months after a kidney transplant is between 1-2 in 100 patients.
8. Will my original kidney disease come back after the transplant?
This can happen with some patients and is known as ‘recurrence’.
Some kidney diseases can come back and affect the kidney transplant very quickly (days to weeks), but this is very rare. If this is a possibility, your kidney doctors and transplant surgeons will discuss this with you.
If you have had difficult medical problems before you developed kidney failure, this may make it more difficult to have a transplant. You will have a number of different medical tests to see if a kidney transplant is the best treatment option for you.
9. How many kidney transplants are carried out per year in the UK?
There over 3000 adult kidney transplants performed per year in the UK.
10. How many people are waiting for kidney transplants in the UK?
In the UK, around 5,000 people are in need of a kidney transplant.
Summary
We have described 10 frequently asked questions (FAQs) about kidney transplants. We hope it has been helpful.
Other resource
20 top tips and FAQs about kidney transplants
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Last Reviewed on 23 May 2024