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For those with kidney failure, the wait for a new kidney can take years. There just are not enough organs from deceased donors to fill the need. Fortunately, a person can live a healthy life with just one kidney, making living-donor kidney transplants an alternative to deceased-donor transplants. This means a healthy kidney is removed from a donor and placed into a patient whose kidneys are not working properly.
Dr. Carrie Jadlowiec, a Mayo Clinic transplant surgeon, says a living-donor kidney transplant has benefits for organ recipients, including better survival rates.
Who is eligible to become a donor and what can you expect? Learn more in this Mayo Clinic Minute.
"As long as you're healthy and have good kidney function, then you could potentially qualify to be a kidney donor," says Dr. Jadlowiec.
It starts with a thorough medical evaluation.
"That gives us a good sense of where we're starting, and then it also allows us to better predict where will your kidney function be at in five years and 10 years after you donate," she says.
Risks
Both surgical and medical risks are low, thanks to advanced technology.
"For all kidney donors, that risk is less than 1%, which is what we see within the general population," says Dr. Jadlowiec.
It's a minimally invasive surgery. "Meaning that we do it through small incisions, which helps with faster recovery," she says.
Full recovery can take up to six weeks, but many people start feeling better around three weeks after surgery.
"The biggest benefit is the ability to help someone and to really change their life," Dr. Jadlowiec says.