AIIMS on course to roll out cadaveric transplants

The facility would reduce the load on Chandigarh-based PGIMER, a pioneer in kidney transplants in the country, allowing patients to receive renal transplant healthcare in Bathinda, said AIIMS authorities

A year after becoming the first government hospital in Punjab to perform a live renal transplant, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bathinda, is now set to roll out cadaveric transplants by the end of the year.

Dr Ratan Gupta, the executive director of AIIMS, Bathinda, said the first live renal transplant surgery was performed in March last year and since then, the central institute had successfully transplanted kidneys in nine more patients. (Getty Images)

Live (living-donor) transplants entail removing a healthy portion of an organ from a living person to replace a failing organ in a recipient, whereas cadaveric transplants use an entire organs like heart, liver, kidney and eyes from a brain-dead or cardiac-dead donor with the consent of their family.

Dr Ratan Gupta, the executive director of the central institute, said the first live renal transplant surgery was performed in March last year and since then, the central institute had successfully transplanted kidneys in nine more patients.

“Now, within the next 4-5 months, the institute will also commence deceased donor transplants, making it the only government facility equipped with cadaveric transplants in Punjab, Haryana and adjoining districts of Rajasthan,” he added.

The facility would reduce the load on Chandigarh-based PGIMER, a pioneer in kidney transplants in the country, allowing patients to receive renal transplant healthcare in Bathinda, said AIIMS authorities.

Kaura, who is also the nodal officer of the transplant project, said the institute was also hiring counsellors, who will have a crucial role in contacting families of deceased patients for organ donation.