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Abstract
Kidney transplantation is a treatment option for people with end-stage renal disease. This educational supplement is written from an Australian perspective and gives an overview of transplantation, including the criteria for assessment of transplant recipients; care of the transplant recipient in the immediate post-operative period and the long term, including assessment of graft function and the role of immunosuppressive medication; and the common causes of graft dysfunction. It also gives a brief description of the different types of donors.
Objectives
* Define different types of kidney donors.
* List the criteria for transplant eligibility and the process of activation on the deceased donor waiting list.
* Discuss the allocation of deceased donor organs.
* Review the care of the renal transplant recipient in the immediate post-operative period.
* Describe the immunosuppressive medication commonly prescribed for renal transplant recipients.
* List the causes and management of graft dysfunction.
* Describe the long-term care of the renal transplant recipient.
Learning outcomes
* Have an understanding of transplant surgery, including a brief history of transplantation.
* Apply knowledge of the transplantation process to the nursing care of kidney transplant recipients.
* Have an understanding of the causes of graft dysfunction and their diagnosis and treatment.
* Provide emotional support and education for kidney transplant recipients.
Keywords
Transplant, graft dysfunction, nursing care, kidney donors, transplant suitability criteria.
Introduction
Kidney transplantation is a treatment option for people with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) (Danovitch, 2017). It is not a cure for renal disease, but it has been shown to allow better health and an improved quality of life compared to life on dialysis (Czyżewski etai., 2014). Kidney transplantation involves removing a kidney from a donor (either living or deceased) and surgically implanting it into the recipient, while suppressing the immune response with medication to prevent rejection of the donated organ (Mahendran & Barlow, 2014), The first successful kidney transplant took place on 23 December 1954 between identical twins in Boston, US (Starzl, 1990), The previous year, scientists in London had described acquired immunologic tolerance in rats, which was the beginning of the science, resulting in modern-day immunosuppressive medication (Danovitch, 2017), The development of both a surgical technique to successfully transplant an organ, along with medication to overcome the host's...