When a kidney becomes available, the Penn Transplant team will notify you and prepare you for surgery.
On the day of their kidney transplant surgery, patients are instructed where to report at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP). Upon arrival, they are taken to a patient room and an EKG, chest X-ray and blood test are done prior to surgery.
What To Expect
Before surgery, family members are encouraged to wait with patients. During the surgery, family members and caregivers can wait in the surgical intensive care waiting room, located on the fifth floor of the Founders Pavilion at HUP. It is important that a member of the surgical team knows where the family is waiting in order to provide them with updates throughout the surgery.
Once the patient is under anesthesia, an incision is made in the lower abdomen. The donor kidney is placed in the abdomen and connected to the pelvic blood vessel. The kidney transplant procedure takes approximately two to four hours.
After surgery, kidney transplant patients go a surgical recovery room.