A medical team in the U.S. has performed a rare kidney transplant during which the patient was awake throughout the procedure and was discharged the next day.
  • @[email protected]English
    11•6 months ago

    This young man volunteered to undergo the procedure even though he didn’t have to.

    Proving this works paves the way for surgeries where general anesthesia isn’t an option for whatever reason.

    They gave him a spinal epidural, let him pick the music, and got started on surgery.

    • threelonmusketeersEnglish
      1•6 months ago

      This young man volunteered to undergo the procedure even though he didn’t have to.

      It’s not like he got a kidney transplant for funsies. He needed a kidney transplant. He just didn’t need to be awake for it.

      Nicolas was first diagnosed with chronic kidney disease during high school in 2013. After moving to Chicago in 2022, his kidney function had deteriorated and doctors at Northwestern told him he needed to get a transplant.

      The Northwestern team picked him as a candidate for the awake transplant because he was young, otherwise healthy and also willing to go ahead with it.

  • @ZachariahEnglish
    8•6 months ago

    What is the benefit?

    • OtterOPEnglish
      9•6 months ago

      In some cases general anaesthesia isn’t possible, or carries more risk, so this might open up new opportunities. Here is a bit from the article:

      "Now that John’s broken the ceiling, we can offer it to patients who have lung disease, or are older or have heart disease that may pose a higher risk for general anesthesia to make a recovery for them much safer,” Nadig said.