How long does kidney transplant recovery take, does the procedure leave a scar and what are the symptoms of rejection?
POP star Selena Gomez has had a kidney transplant due because of her gruelling battle with Lupus.
The singer revealed her best friend gave the "ultimate gift" by donating her organ.
How long does kidney transplant recovery take?
Patients who have just undergone a kidney transplant are immediately given medication to stop their immune system rejecting the new kidney.
As most transplanted kidneys start working straight after surgery, most people can leave hospital after one week.
If the kidney fails to start working straight away, patients will have to have dialysis before they can go home.
Those who are allowed out will have around two or three hospital appointments every seven days in the weeks after srugery.
A year after the operation, patients will only have to return to the transplant centre once every few months.
After the transplant, it's recommended that patients stop smoking, eat a healthy diet and lose weight if overweight or obese.
What are the symptoms of rejection?
As with any other major surgical procedure, a kidney transplant has a wide range of potential risks.
Most commonly is that the body realises that the transplanted kidney is not "its own".
The "rejection" process can happen even in patients whose transplant kidney was match perfect in terms of blood group and tissue type.
Around 15 out of every 100 transplants will be rejected.
There are two types of 'rejection' - acute or chronic.
- Acute rejection: This can occur in the first few months after surgery. It causes pain and fever, but usually there are no symptoms.
- Chronic rejection: This is a long and slow reaction to the kidney transplant, but its reaction is very mild, unlike acute rejection.
What are the other risks?
Short-term complications included infections, blood clots, blocked ureter and urine leakage.
While long-term complications could be an increased risk of certain types of cancer, particularly skin cancer, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Does surgery for a kidney transplant leave a scar?
Yes. You will have a scar from the donor operation, but the size and location of the scar will depend on the type of operation you have.
How long does a kidney transplant last?
There is a no clear cut answer for this as there are a number of factors which affect how long a transplanted kidney lasts.
It depends on whether the kidney came from a living donor, how well the kidney is matched in terms of blood group and tissue type, and the age and health of the person receiving the donation.
- There is a 95 per cent chance a kidney will last one year.
- A five-year survival rate has a 85-90 per cent chance.
- And it's 75 per cent likely to last ten years.
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What is Lupus?
Lupus is an autoimmune condition when the body makes antibodies that attack itself. While some patients will only experience mild symptoms such as aches and feeling tired, others can have suffer life threatening organ damage to the heart and kidneys.
Other symptoms include depression, lung and heart disease and hair loss.
It is teh times more common in women than men and usually develops between the ages of 12 and 25.
There is currently no cure for lupus, however it is often tackled with a combination of chemotherapy and anti-inflammatory and steroid medications.