Chronic kidney disease is a common complication of hypertension, particularly when high blood pressure is not controlled. It is estimated that there are more than 300,000 people in the U.S. with end-stage kidney disease. Ultimately, these individuals will need a kidney transplant, but there is a chronic shortage of kidney donors.

If you are one of the 40,000+ individuals awaiting a kidney transplant, there is good news about kidney donations. New surgical procedures make the donation of a kidney a much less severe and painful operation, which has enhanced the willingness of family and friends to donate a kidney and, in a recent study, doubled the rate of kidney donations.

In the past, kidney donors faced a major surgical procedure, with severe discomfort and long recovery times. Now, however, surgeons have developed less invasive procedures using laparoscopy that makes kidney donation much easier -- less pain, shorter hospital stay, and faster recovery and return to normal activities.

Researchers at the University of Maryland studied whether educating patients about the new procedures would improve their chance of finding a kidney donor. When patients who needed a kidney were educated about laparoscopic surgery for kidney donation, fully half of the patients in the study were able to find a donor, and 25% received a transplant within 3 years. This compares to 35% finding a donor and 12% receiving a transplant before the new surgical procedure was available.

You can get more information about kidney donations from the United Network for Organ Sharing, www.unos.org.

Related information Basic Facts: Disease risks - Kidney disease

Sources:

• Schweitzer EJ, Wilson J, Jacobs S, et al. Increased rates of donation with laparoscopic donor nephrectomy. Annals of Surgery 2000;232(3):392-400.
• Coresh J et al. Chronic kidney disease associated with suboptimal BP control. Archives of Internal Medicine 2001;161:1207-1216. (Abs.)