1st renal transplant performed at Tanda Medical College

Raghav Guleria

Dharamsala, June 23

The Tanda Medical College (TMC), Kangra, has created history of sorts by conducting its first-ever kidney transplant procudure. The Renal Transplant Programme started at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College and Hospital (RPGMC), Tanda, with two live related (ABO compatible) successful transplants on June 18 under the leadership of Head of Department, Renal Transplant, Dr Ashish Sharma and his team from PGI, Chandigarh. The team of the institute included Dr Abhinav Rana, HOD Nephrology; and Dr Amit Sharma, Renal Transplant Surgeon; Dr Shelly Rana, HOD Anaesthesia; Dr Bharti Gupta, Dr Versha Verma and their anaesthesia team.

One kidney transplant was covered under AYUSHMAN Scheme, in which both recipient and donor were women. While the recipient was 24-year-old, the donor aged 52. The second transplant conducted under the HIMCARE scheme, the 29-year-old male received kidney from a 62-year-old donor. “All recipients and donors are healthy and doing well. Both the donors have been discharged and the blood test of both the recipients are normal post surgery. They are having a good urinary output and will be discharged soon,” a doctor said.

The kidney transplant facility will prove a boon for patients from lower Himachal districts of Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur, Mandi and Una, who are dependent on the neighbouring states for the procedure. After the open-heart surgery conducted successfully at the hospital, the kidney transplant has added another feather to its cap.

26 patients in queue

for transplant

The credit for making the renal transplant a reality in the TMC goes to the medical college principal and his team, including Dr Abhinav Rana, HoD Nephrology, and Dr Amit Sharma, Renal Transplant Surgeon.

According to Dr Rana and Dr Sharma, 26 patients are in the queue and all modalities for renal replacement therapies are available at the TMC. Generally, a transplant costs around Rs 5-6 lakh. The procedure will be cashless for the HIMCARE and Ayushman scheme beneficiaries. The transplant facility is likely to be free of cost for the below-poverty line (BPL) patients. Any patient who wants to undergo the transplant can register at room numbers 125 and 127 at TMC.

The doctors told The Tribune that their team is all set to initiate ABO incompatible transplant, besides reviving cadaveric transplant at Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College Tanda.

What is renal transplant

A donor can give kidney to an End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patient. Renal transplant is a surgery performed to replace a diseased or damaged kidney with a healthy one obtained from a donor. The kidney can come from a deceased donor or a living donor.