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After Living-Donor Kidney Transplant Surgery

At UPMC, we understand that everyone recovers differently.

Our kidney transplant team will work with you to provide a personalized treatment plan that meets your needs after kidney donation surgery.

Post-Living Kidney Donor Care

Following surgery, kidney donors and recipients are placed under the care of our dedicated transplant team until they are able to leave the hospital.

During this time, you have access to our state-of-the-art specialized services including:

  • Dedicated inpatient transplant units with SmartRoom® technology
  • A dedicated infusion center within the Frank Sarris Outpatient Clinic
  • An outpatient transplant service center

Follow-Up Appointments After Your Kidney Donation

Most living-kidney donors take up to two months for a full recovery, depending on their occupation.

During this recovery time, you will visit the hospital for routine post-donation check-ups, which are guidelines of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).

The first follow-up visit takes place one to two weeks after kidney donation surgery to obtain lab results, which include monitoring of your serum creatinine level, protein level, and blood pressure.

To ensure appropriate healing, you are required to visit the hospital for additional  post-surgery check ups for lab work. These visits occur at:

  • Six weeks
  • Six months
  • One year
  • Two years

A living-donor transplant nurse coordinator will be in touch with reminders about these follow-up appointments and to ensure that you have not experienced issues related to your donation.