Second renal surgery at Kumari GH a success

MADURAI: A 31-year-old woman patient Jeevitha, who underwent a renal transplant successfully in Kanniyakumari Government Medical College Hospital (KGMCH) at Asaripallam, was discharged on Thursday. She was lucky to have her mother as the donor.

Jeevitha who is a resident of Manakkavilai village, Thuckalay block of Kanniyakumari district, was admitted to the hospital due to renal failure. After several months of nonsurgical treatment, the patient received a renal transplant on June 6.

The patient was under treatment for almost one-and-a-half years and ultimately her mother Charlotte (52), a daily wage earner and resident of Kamarajar Nagar, offered to donate her kidney. “After a nod from the team of doctors, the surgical procedure was carried out successfully,” Kanniyakumari Collector PN Sridhar said.

It normally costs Rs10 lakh for such a surgical treatment in a private hospital, but Jeevitha received the transplant free of cost under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance scheme.

The first renal transplant surgery by doctors in KGMCH was carried out in 2019 and the second such surgical procedure has been done this month.

“Among the total of 35 Government Medical College Hospitals in Tamil Nadu, the KGMCH became the 11th hospital to have done such a transplant successfully,” the Collector said. Dean of the Medical College P Prince Pius said three more patients with similar complications expressed their willingness to receive transplants. “Last month, 150 patients came for 1,332 dialysis sessions in the 1206-bedded KGMCH at Asaripallam.”

Further, the Dean said efforts were on to transform this medical college hospital into a super speciality faciilty, which has a daily average admission of about 850 patients.