Safdarjung Hospital Performs First Paediatric Renal Transplant in a Central Government Facility

New Delhi: VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital has achieved a new milestone in its Renal Transplant program with the successful conduct of a paediatric renal transplant on 19th November 2025. Dr Sandeep Bansal, Director, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital informed that this is not only a first for Safdarjung Hospital, but also the first time that a paediatric renal transplant has been performed in any central government hospital.

The surgical transplant team was led by Director Professor and Head of Urology and Renal Transplant, Dr Pawan Vasudeva and included Dr Niraj Kumar, Professor Urology. The paediatric team was led by Director Professor and Incharge, Paediatric Nephrology, Dr (Mrs) Shobha Sharma and included Dr Srinivasavaradan, Assistant professor, under Professor and Head of Paediatrics, Dr Pradeep K Debata. The anaesthesia team was led by Dr Sushil and included Dr Mamta and Dr Sonali, under Director Professor and Head of Anaesthesia, Dr Kavita Rani Sharma.

The patient was a 11 year old boy who had developed end stage kidney disease due to a rare disorder known as bilateral hypodysplastic kidneys. Dr Shobha Sharma informed that the condition was diagnosed about one and a half year back when the child was brought in a serious condition to the paediatrics department at Safdarjung Hospital and had to be revived after a cardiac arrest. Kidney failure was diagnosed at that time and the child had been under the care of the paediatric nephrology division since then and had been undergoing regular dialysis.

Dr Pawan Vasudeva informed that paediatric kidney transplant is a surgical challenge and differs from the adult transplant on various counts including the need to anastomose the donor kidney to the larger major vessels in the recipient and also the need to create space for the adult kidney to sit comfortably in the child’s body. The Donor in this case was the Child’s 35 year old mother.

He was happy to note that the kidney has taken up well with kidney function having normalised. The child has had an uneventful recovery, is off dialysis and would be discharged soon. He expressed his gratitude to the Director Dr Sandeep Bansal, Medical Superintendent Dr Charu Bamba and Principal Dr Geetika Khanna for their unwavering support.

Dr Sandeep Bansal said that Safdarjung Hospital remains committed to providing the highest quality of healthcare free of cost to all citizens without any bias .He said it was satisfying to see the child, whose family belonged to Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh and whose father was a daily wage worker, now free from dialysis and in good health.

This was a dream come true for the family, who had given up all hope, knowing that such a procedure in the private sector would cost close to 15 lakhs. Dr Charu Bamba, Medical Superintendent informed that the hospital would provide immunosuppressive drugs , which are expensive and which need to be continued in kidney transplant patients, free of cost to the child.