Surgeons perform kidney transplant without need for dialysis

(Lightchaser Photography)

In what’s reportedly a first-of-its-kind procedure, doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center performed a kidney transplant on a patient without the need for dialysis. In May, doctors removed two diseased kidneys and transplanted one new organ in a patient with polycystic kidney disease, The Baltimore Sun reported.

The hospital timed the removal of Wayne Hubbard’s kidneys with the availability of the donor organ so that he did not have to undergo dialysis, said David B. Leeser, an associate professor of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and chief of kidney and pancreas transplant at the University of Maryland Medical Center, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Hubbard, 49, developed polycystic kidney disease in his 20s, but was having trouble breathing as the disease began to progress rapidly, according to the report.

“This surgical breakthrough may widen the options for PKD patients by drawing on the powerful ability of a paired kidney exchange to find compatible donors from throughout the U.S.,” Dr. E. Albert Reece, vice president for medical affairs at the University of Maryland and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told The Baltimore Sun.

A total of 28 surgeries over a three-week period were conducted to complete the swap, with a backup plan involving dialysis in place in case the kidney’s arrival was delayed.

Kidney dialysis is used after kidney failure to keep the body in balance by removing waste to avoid buildup and maintaining safe chemical balance in the blood, according to Kidney.org.