New surgery promises to bypass scars in kidney donation

Scarring on the body many not deter women wishing to donate kidney with ‘Transvaginal Donor Nephrectomy’, a surgery in which the donor’s kidney is extracted through the vagina by making an incision in the vaginal wall, gaining popular.

The surgery was performed at the Manipal Hospital here a month ago.

Speaking at a press meet on the World Organ Donation Day here on Wednesday, Dr Deepak Dubey, consultant, Urology and Renal Transplant, Manipal Hospital, said that unlike earlier surgeries which involved big incisions and risked hernia, this transplantation was much safer and less painful.

“Except for tiny holes of about five mm in size, there is no need for a big cut in this type of surgery. Besides, it involves minimal external stitches,” Dr Dubey explained. The procedure lasts about two hours and costs just as much as a normal transplant.

“It would cost about around Rs 3.5 lakh. An additional Rs 8,000 would be for the polythene bag used to draw the kidney out,” he added.

Dr H Sudarshan Ballal, director, Manipal Hospital, said that more women came forward to donate for kidney transplantation than men. But scarring would put them off, especially the younger ones. “In this new surgery, since there will be minimal marks after donation, we hope many women would come forward,” he added. The hospital also looked forward to the possibility of robotic operation in the future, he said.

Nagashree (name changed), who donated a kidney to her elder sister, had a tough time convincing her family. “Initially, they didn’t allow me. It took us months together to convince them. Now, after they see me being perfectly fine, they are relieved,” she said, adding that she was back to near normality and was able to do her activities independently.