Awake kidney transplant: a medical breakthrough

There are more than 780,000 people living with kidney disease. On average, 25,000 people will get a transplant each year.

There are thousands more still on the waiting list, relying on kidney dialysis to stay alive. Some people face an even tougher time because they can’t go under anesthesia for a transplant surgery.

That may be changing. There is now an extraordinary breakthrough.

This has been performed several times now, and it could be done again to help more people who need kidneys.

John Nicolas is the very first known patient to be awake during his own kidney transplant surgery.

Nicolas has been living with kidney issues since he was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in high school, and it was an elementary school pal, Pat, who came to his rescue and donated his kidney.

“We’ve always said to each other that, you know, we’re ride-or-die friends,” Nicolas said.

However, for some patients, general anesthesia can cause life-threatening complications. Now, surgeons from Northwestern are using a single spinal anesthesia shot — the same type of sedation used for c-sections — giving higher-risk and older patients a chance of transplantation.

74-year-old Harry Stackhouse was the second patient to have the surgery while awake — with a kidney donated by his daughter.

The surgery took less than two hours.

“Not one time did I feel, not even the shot. I didn’t feel anything,” he said.

Stackhouse was home within 36 hours. Nicolas walked out of the hospital the very next day.

At this point, Northwestern Medicine is the only one in the country with this type of program, giving more patients a chance at a dialysis-free, healthy life.