During a kidney transplant, a surgeon removes a kidney from either a deceased donor or a healthy adult, known as a living donor, and uses it to replace your diseased or damaged kidney. Living-donor kidney transplant procedures are possible because, although you have two kidneys, you can live a healthy life with only one working kidney.
UPMC is one of the nation's most active and experienced transplant programs, performing more than 200 adult kidney transplants each year. We have vast experience in kidney and combined kidney-pancreas transplants, taking on some of the most challenging cases and delivering outstanding outcomes.
The UPMC team brings decades of experience in both deceased donor and living-donor transplants and offers donor exchange options, which provide patients with a shorter wait for an organ to become available.
Our world-class expertise also extends across the UPMC system, with our expert surgeons performing kidney transplants at UPMC Montefiore in Pittsburgh, Pa., UPMC Hamot in Erie, Pa., and UPMC Harrisburg in Harrisburg, Pa. Each location combines specialized kidney care with comprehensive resources to deliver life-changing treatment options for patients.
During a kidney transplant, a surgeon removes a kidney from either a deceased donor or a healthy adult, known as a living donor, to replace your diseased or damaged kidney. Living-donor kidney transplants are possible because, although you have two kidneys, you can live a healthy life with only one functioning kidney.
Options for kidney transplant include deceased and living donor transplants. Each has distinct risks and benefits, which we will review with you thoroughly during your evaluation visit.
We also perform kidney-pancreas and pancreas-after-kidney transplants.
This type of transplant helps people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes whose kidneys are failing — or have failed — and who need both a new kidney and pancreas. Surgeons transplant both the kidney and pancreas during one surgery.
People who are diabetic following a kidney transplant may receive a pancreas-after-kidney transplant to prevent any future damage to the new kidney. Surgeons transplant the pancreas following a successful kidney transplant.
You may need kidney transplant surgery if you have end-stage kidney disease or complications related to diabetes.
Candidates for a kidney transplant may include people:
Research has found that people who have had a successful kidney transplant generally live longer and have fewer medical complications than those on dialysis.
To be eligible for a kidney transplant, you must be:
Because kidney complications are common in people with diabetes, some may be candidates for a simultaneous kidney-pancreas or pancreas-after-kidney transplant.
Kidney-pancreas transplants may benefit people with type 1 diabetes who have underlying kidney problems, such as:
You may not be eligible for a kidney transplant if you have:
Kidney transplant risks and complications may include:
At UPMC, we're dedicated to providing you with step-by-step guidance through the entire transplant process. The kidney transplant process typically has four stages:
To start the kidney transplant process, you need to select the hospital where you would like to receive your transplant and get a physician referral or refer yourself.
Located in Pittsburgh, Erie, and Harrisburg, our kidney transplant services accept self-referrals and physician referrals. You can contact us for these services at:
Multi-listing occurs when a kidney transplant candidate registers at two or more transplant hospitals. UPMC accepts patients who are multi-listed.
Within the UPMC network, kidney transplant candidates may choose to list at UPMC Montefiore, UPMC Hamot, and UPMC Harrisburg.
When you choose to multi-list at two or more hospitals, you will be included in larger and different pools of deceased donor organs. As a result, being listed at multiple hospitals may increase your chances of receiving an offer of a compatible kidney and/or shorten your wait time.
Not every hospital accepts multi-listed transplant candidates. Some hospitals have specific criteria that multi-listed candidates need to meet.
Before multi-listing, check with your health insurance company to make sure they will cover the costs of more than one kidney transplant evaluation.
You should also consider other costs not covered by insurance, such as travel and lodging expenses for your evaluation, procedure, and follow-up care.
After a referral is submitted, a member of the transplant team, known as an intake coordinator, will contact you to discuss the next steps. This will include scheduling a time for you to come for a pre-transplant evaluation.
Your intake coordinator will ask you for basic information, including your health insurance policy number. Your intake coordinator will contact your health insurance company to verify that your transplant evaluation and procedure will be covered.
They may also send a detailed questionnaire for you to complete and bring with you to your evaluation.
During your evaluation visit, you will meet with your transplant team. Your team will tell you about the transplant process, answer your questions, and assess your health, psychosocial, and financial needs.
Your evaluation will include:
The UPMC Kidney Transplant Program has clinics throughout Pennsylvania where you can find out if a kidney transplant is an option. Find an evaluation location near you.
Compatibility test results will be used to find the best possible kidney match for you. Types of compatibility testing include:
If our team concludes that a kidney transplant would be the best option for you, you will be placed on the national transplant waiting list. A member of our team will notify you when a donor kidney becomes available.
UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) decides the criteria for organ allocation and ensures that all transplant hospitals in the United States meet their requirements.
Your kidney transplant team will assign you an estimated post-transplant survival (EPTS) score based on:
EPTS scores range from 0 to 100 percent. The lower your score, the higher your priority on the kidney transplant waiting list.
While on the national kidney transplant waiting list, you have 12 hours from the time you are notified that a kidney is available to get to UPMC. If you live a great distance from UPMC, or even overseas, you may consider relocating nearer to your transplant center as your priority score on the kidney transplant waiting list becomes more critical.
Learn more about traveling to Pittsburgh for transplant services.
Kidney availability is difficult to predict, so wait times for a kidney transplant vary. Factors that may affect your wait time include:
If you would like to eliminate the wait time for a kidney transplant, you may want to consider living donation.
Kidney transplant candidates who are not considered high priority on the national deceased donor list can wait for years to receive a kidney due to shortages of deceased-donor organs.
Living-donor kidney transplant is an option where a healthy kidney from a living person is removed and transplanted into a person with a failing kidney. Living donation allows patients to receive a transplant sooner and before they become too sick. Friends, family members, and even strangers have chosen to become living donors in order to help people in need.
If you know someone willing to donate a kidney, the UPMC kidney transplant team will evaluate him or her as a suitable donor for you.
If this person does not happen to be a match for you, you may opt to participate in the National Kidney Registry's exchange program.
In this "swap" program, your willing donor who isn't a match for you can donate his or her kidney to another person on the waiting list.
The person who receives your living donor's kidney will also have a willing donor who will then donate his or her kidney to another person participating in the exchange.
After an organ becomes available, your dedicated transplant nurse coordinator will notify you. You will then report for admission at UPMC to prepare for surgery.
Before coming to the hospital for your kidney transplant:
When you arrive at UPMC, we will prepare you for your kidney transplant surgery.
The donor team will inspect the kidney to make sure it's good for transplant and a match for you. In the meantime — to make sure you're in good health with no active illnesses — you'll:
Before moving you to the OR, your anesthesiologist will speak with you about what to expect. You'll receive general anesthesia and sleep through the kidney transplant procedure.
You will also speak to one of the surgical team members to get consent for the transplant to take place.
Kidney transplant surgery takes three to five hours.
During your kidney transplant, your surgeon and care team may remove your diseased kidney and replace it with a healthy kidney from a deceased or living donor. In some cases, the new kidney may be added to your body without removing your original kidney.
After the donor kidney is placed into your body, your surgeon will attach it to the surrounding major blood vessels and structures. It may start working immediately, or within several days or weeks.
After surgery, we will move you to one of our highly specialized transplant care units. You will spend a few days in the transplant intensive care unit (ICU) before being moved to a room on our transplant surgical floor. You will be in the hospital for a total of five to seven days.
A critical care team of certified transplant nurses and other trained experts — including intensivists and infectious disease specialists — will carefully monitor your progress until you're medically stable.
The kidney transplant team provides primary care during your hospital stay and collaborates with nephrologists from the Renal-Electrolyte Division to provide your long-term follow-up care after discharge.
When we discharge you from the hospital, you'll need to stay near your transplant center for a period of time to receive:
After you're strong enough to go home, you will need to come back to UPMC for check-ups.
After surgery, the kidney transplant team and your referring physician will create a personalized treatment plan after your transplant, and closely watch your lab work and medication changes.
The team also will educate you and your family about home care instructions, such as:
We'll work with your referring physician to develop a transition plan for care.
Most people can return to driving four to eight weeks after kidney transplant. You should NOT drive if:
You can play a vital role in the success of your transplant by:
You should let your surgeon know if you have:
For most people, a kidney transplant improves life expectancy and quality of life. Most patients can live a normal life and participate in everyday activities without the need for dialysis. However, your prognosis depends on your age, overall health, and other factors. Your doctor will discuss your prognosis with you.
Survival after kidney transplant varies, but the median survival rate is currently around 19 years.
Living-donor kidneys usually last longer than deceased donor kidneys. According to the National Kidney Foundation, living-donor kidneys last 15 to 20 years, and deceased-donor kidneys last eight to 12 years.
Success rates for kidney transplant procedures are above 95 percent for deceased donor and living-donor procedures.
When you choose UPMC for kidney transplant care, you will receive:
UPMC is home to one of the oldest and largest transplant programs in the United States. People come to us in Pittsburgh from nearby and far away for life-saving transplant options.
Learn MoreBy UPMC Editorial Staff. Last reviewed on 2025-12-09.
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