PUDUCHERRY: The Department of Urology in Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital and PG Institute, Puducherry (IGGGH&PGI) achieved a milestone by reinstituting kidney transplant after around seven years on Tuesday. Assisted by a team of doctors from Chennai, the transplant was done on a 37-year-old woman, with the kidney donated by her 57-year-old mother. Medical superintendent of IGGG&PGI Dr Sevval said, “The hospital will take up transplants for patients when the organ is donated by a first degree relative.”
The transplant programme, introduced in 2006, was stopped within two and half years as the Director General of Health Services pointed out deficiencies. The hospital complied with all the requirements and restarted the transplant programme in 2012. But it was stopped once again following expiry of the licence in 2016.
The licence has again been renewed and the transplant process has been restarted. Though the revival is good news, getting donors stands as a major issue to continue the process.
Dr Sudhakar K said that IGGGH&PGI will be a major contributor to the organ transplant programme of the country soon, filling a major gap. In 2022, over two lakh patients needed a transplant but only around 7,500 transplants were done.
Cadaver transplant is another option to give kidney failure patients a second chance at life, the doctor said and added that the urology department is taking measures to work out this type of transplant. In this direction, various awareness programs are to be conducted in coordination with the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation.
Dr Sudhakar lauded Dr K. Kumar, head of Department of Nephrology; P Madhan, head of Department of Anaesthesia; Dr Muthu Veeramani, director and senior consultant of SIMS, Chennai; Dr Shiva Shankar, Urology professor of Saveetha University, Chennai; and Dr Ratnavel Kamaraj J, medical officer of IGGGH&PGI.