16-yr-old gets new lease of life at Rainbow Hospital

A 16-year-old girl who was suffering from chronic kidney disease was given a new lease of life by the doctors at a private hospital in Chennai as she underwent an ABO Incompatible Kidney Transplant successfully. The doctors at the Rainbow Children’s Hospital led by Dr N Prahlad, senior consultant, Pediatric Nephrology performed the surgery. The girl visited the hospital in December 2022 with severe anaemia, weight loss and height not appropriate to her age. She was also suffering from hurried breathing, acidosis, and very low haemoglobin as well.

“Ultrasound done showed that both kidneys were small in size confirming that she was suffering from Chronic Kidney disease. We stabilised her and started on hemodialysis. The child became stable in 4 to 5 days. However, this was just a temporary solution,” said Dr Prahlad.

The doctors suggested that renal transplantation is a great option for their child and the parents agreed for the same.

Dr Prahlad said, “Special dialysis equipment is needed for such surgery on children which are available at Rainbow Children’s Hospital.”

Talking about the procedure, Dr Prahlad said to ensure that the mismatch does not happen, certain medicines were given & specialised dialysis was done 3 to 4 days before the transplantation. But with the facilities available and the experienced team of doctors, this surgery was performed successfully.

The kidney of the mother was removed laparoscopically and was then transplanted to the child. The whole surgery was completed in three hours.