Surgical
risks →
- Advances in surgical technique and technology for nephrectomy have significantly improved outcomes for patients, there are however “acceptable” surgical risks that are associated with this procedure (similar to other surgeries)
- Transplant team takes several preventative measures to mitigate or reduce these risk factors
- To help make an informed decision, you will be provided with a detailed summary of risks and probability of complications from surgery, general anesthesia and recovery related to nephrectomy
Long
term risks →
- Important to monitor signs for hypertension (high blood pressure), treatment with medications maybe required if a kidney donor develops hypertension later in life
- Research shows that donating a kidney does NOT decrease a woman’s chance of
conceiving or negatively impact the baby’s health during development (a
common misconception)
- population based cohort studies of female living kidney donors have shown that in some cases, there is an increased risk of gestational hypertension or preeclampsia during pregnancy and this complication is treated with antihypertensive medications1,2
- as a female, you may wish to consider donation after childbearing season of your life to help mitigate this risk factor
Long
term consideration →
- For individuals who donate a kidney, it is clinically recommended to limit or avoid use of NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - such as aspirin, ibuprofen, celecoxib or naproxen) to help preserve renal function of the remaining kidney