AIIMS Raipur Perform Its First Swap Kidney Transplant in Chhattisgarh

Raipur: AIIMS Raipur has successfully conducted its first Swap Kidney Transplant, also known as a Kidney Paired Donation (KPD), under the guidance of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

With this, it becomes the first among the newer AIIMS institutions and the first government hospital in Chhattisgarh to carry out this type of procedure.

The transplant took place on March 15, 2025, and involved two male patients aged 39 and 41 from Bilaspur, both of whom were suffering from end-stage renal disease and had been on dialysis for over three years.

They were advised to undergo kidney transplantation. Their respective wives volunteered as living donors, but due to blood group incompatibility, one pair had B+ and O+, and the other had O+ and B+ direct transplants were not possible.

To address the incompatibility, the transplant team at AIIMS Raipur coordinated a swap kidney transplant. Each donor gave her kidney to the other recipient, ensuring compatible blood group matching and making successful transplantation possible for both patients.

All four individuals, the two donors and two recipients—are currently recovering under observation in the Transplant ICU.

The transplant team included Dr Vinay Rathore (Transplant Physician); Dr Amit R Sharma, Dr Deepak Biswal, and Dr Satyadeo Sharma (Transplant Surgeons); Dr Subrat Singha, Dr Mayank, Dr Jitendra, and Dr Sarita Ramchandani (Anaesthesiologists); as well as transplant coordinators and OT and transplant nursing staff.

Swap kidney transplants are considered an effective option in cases of donor-recipient incompatibility. It is estimated that this method can lead to a 15% increase in the number of kidney transplants.

The National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) has recommended that swap donor transplantation be implemented across all states and Union Territories, and is working towards a uniform national program to facilitate such transplants more effectively.

In addition to living donor kidney transplants, AIIMS Raipur has also developed a program for deceased donor transplants. The institute was the first among newer AIIMS to start deceased donor organ donation and kidney transplantation, and also the first in Chhattisgarh to perform deceased donor paediatric kidney transplants. Over the past two years, six deceased donors have donated organs through the institute.

So far, AIIMS Raipur has performed 54 kidney transplants, reporting a graft survival rate of 95% and a patient survival rate of 97%.