All operations are associated with some risk and although giving away a kidney is a unique
type of surgery with potential challenges, serious complications are very rare. There are
various people at the hospital you can talk with if you have any concerns.

• Education nurses – these are specialist nurses that are experienced in discussing the
  physical and emotional impact of what happens when you donate. You can discuss
  your concerns, anxieties, request for more information and ask questions.
• Peer supporters- They aim to offer support to kidney patients and potential living
  kidney donors.
• Kidney Patients Association- offer support to kidney patients and provide
  information.

Short-term

Short-term covers around the time of the operation and shortly afterwards.

Anaesthetic
Complications due to anaesthetic issues are rare, particularly in people who
are live donors as they have had a thorough work-up and come into the operation ‘well’ as
opposed to being sick (unlike most people who need an operation). If there are any possible
concerns then our experienced anaesthetic consultant will see you well in advance of the
surgery.

The Operation

The kidneys lie beside the major blood vessels and organs such as the colon, pancreas,
lungs and spleen and there is the potential for damage during removal of the kidney. There
is also a small possibility of bleeding occurring but this can be generally seen at the time and
brought under control very quickly by the surgeon.

Very rarely but occasionally the donor may need a blood transfusion or to go back to theatre. Spleen – moving the spleen out of the way to reach the kidney can lead to bleeding which ultimately requires removal of the spleen (splenectomy). Splenectomy weakens the immune system, so in the very unlikely
event that this happens you should take lifelong antibiotics.

Gut/bowel – moving the bowel out of the way to reach the kidney very rarely causes it damage. Sometimes this is not obvious until a few days after the donor operation, and requires further surgery. In very exceptional circumstances this will involve creation of a temporary colostomy (bag on wall of
abdomen for faeces) for a few months to rest the bowel until it can be safely repaired.

Lung – the pleura (the space around the lung) may be inadvertently be opened during surgery. If
this happens, the lung may collapse. The doctors would then insert a tube into the chest to
allow recovery.

These complications are mentioned because they are serious but fortunately
they are exceptionally rare. Worldwide there are reports of a person donating a kidney
having died because of a serious complication and it is estimated that this happens once in
every 3,000 cases. This is comparable to the risk of dying with having surgery to remove the
appendix.