After Kidney Transplant Surgery

Feel confident the transplant care team at University Health will provide safe, high-quality care after kidney transplant surgery.

Your Hospital Care After Transplant

Expect superior care and close monitoring in the transplant intensive care unit after your kidney transplant surgery. We’ll monitor your pain, fluids, bladder and lung functions to help make your recovery go smoothly. As you get farther along in your recovery, you’ll move to the transplant care hospital room.

Hospital Stay

The average hospital stay after a kidney transplant is five to six days. Your length of stay will depend on how well your new kidney works.

High-Quality Care and Patient Outcomes

Review our transplant quality and recognition information that shows our program provides high-quality care. Our Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) data and reports show we meet or exceed the national expectations for patient survival. That means we have outstanding patient outcomes for a kidney transplant.

Transplant Care and Patient Education

You and your caregiver will benefit from complete transplant education from your care team during your hospital stay. You’ll learn about:

• What to eat and not eat after your transplant
• Exercise and physical therapy
• General health instructions
• Home monitoring for signs of infection and rejection
• Lab tests and other essential health checks
• Returning to work
• Short- and long-term activity restrictions

Your Complete Guide to Transplant Care

You’ll receive an Organ Transplant Manual before you leave the hospital. Refer to the manual after you go home for complete transplant care information and instructions.

Post-Transplant Medications

Learn about your post-transplant medications and how they help you live better while you’re recovering from a kidney transplant. You may take medications to help:

• Avoid infection
• Boost essential nutrients
• Control body fluids
• Improve blood flow to your new kidney
• Lower cholesterol
• Protect against kidney rejection
• Stop stomach ulcers

Preventing Kidney Rejection

Count on your care team to prevent rejection by giving you anti-rejection (immunosuppressants) medications. These medications lower your immune system responses to help your body accept your new kidney.

Rejection is your body’s normal reaction to something foreign, like your new kidney. It happens most frequently in the first three months after transplant surgery. Most rejections are treatable if you detect the signs early.

Kidney Transplant Follow-Up Care

After a kidney transplant, you’ll visit the transplant clinic every week for the first month. Before you leave the hospital, you’ll receive the date and time of your first appointment. Make sure to bring your medications and your Organ Transplant Manual to all of your appointments.

Clinic visits will gradually decrease over the next few months. After three months, you will return to your regular doctor for follow-up care.

Returning to work

Your transplant doctor will decide when you can go back to work based on your health and job type. Most patients return to work on a part-time basis around six weeks after surgery and build up to full-time.