Live your days free of dialysis

If you’re living with end-stage kidney disease, with progressive diabetic complications and difficult-to-control glucose levels, a combined kidney/pancreas transplant is an excellent option to get you off dialysis, end your diabetes, and improve your life quality and life expectancy.

You may be a candidate for a combined kidney/pancreas transplant if you have:

• Type 1 diabetes, with end stage renal disease
• Type 2 insulin dependent diabetes, with end-stage renal disease and progressive complications from diabetes

For pancreas alone transplant or pancreas after a kidney transplant eligibility, any patient with failure of clinical treatment and progressive complications of the disease should be evaluated.

• No more dialysis
• New pancreas produces insulin, which controls diabetes, and protects your new kidney so it works better and lasts longer
• Lower risk of serious complications from diabetes, improving life expectancy and quality of life
• No longer need to check your blood sugar

We performed 50 total pancreas transplants in 2024, the largest volume in the USA. We also have more experience and treat more complex patients who are highly sensitized or who have other conditions that make transplantation more challenging, many of whom had been turned away by other pancreas transplantation programs

With living donors, about 80% of transplanted kidneys will last at least 10 years. With non-living donors, about 60% of transplanted kidneys will last at least 10 years.

If you are already on the waiting list for a kidney or kidney-pancreas transplant at another transplant center, there are important advantages to choosing to also be placed on the waiting list at MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute. This is called dual or multiple listing.

Our transplant team operates 24/7, unlike most other centers, which means we receive a high volume of organ offers and perform more transplants. In 2024, we performed 274 deceased donor kidney transplants and 42 kidney-pancreas transplants, a higher number than any other center in the region, with excellent outcomes for our patients.

We also have a dedicated operating room space that allows us to perform as many transplants as needed and a unique, proactive approach to evaluating organ offers that other centers don’t have the expertise to consider. This further expands our patients’ access to transplants.

Thanks to our experience, expertise, expanded operating hours, and dedicated transplant operating space, our patients’ time on the waiting list for a new kidney or kidney and pancreas has dropped significantly in the last year, making the wait time for these life-saving transplants one of the shortest in the region.

Three to five days for the recipient.

Four to six weeks for the recipient.

The technique of kidney transplantation was perfected over 50 years ago. It was found that placing the kidney in the pelvis was more successful than placing it in the back. Furthermore, the native kidney(s) does not have to be removed, which simplifies the surgery.

Each surgery, one for the donor and one for the recipient, lasts approximately 3 - 5 hours.

A typical schedule of post-transplant follow-up visits is as follows:

• Two visits in the week following your transplant
• One visit per week during the first month
• One visit every two weeks during the second month
• One visit per month during the next 3 - 6 months
• During this process, your nurse will keep your nephrologist informed of your progress. Eventually, as your kidney or kidney and pancreas become healthy, your nephrologist will resume the role of primary care giver.

Most patients must take multiple medications following the transplant. These medications are necessary to fight against organ rejection and bacterial and viral infections. The anti-rejection medications must be continued throughout the life of the kidney or kidney and pancreas. Other medications may include antibiotics, antivirals, antihypertensives, diuretics, vitamins, Iron, and antiulcers as needed.

Your kidneys remove waste and excess fluid from your body. CKD is a word for the slow loss of your kidney’s ability to do that important job.

A simple blood and urine test can determine if you have kidney disease. The urine test looks at your albumin-to-creatinine ratio and your blood is tested for creatinine, which is used to calculate your GFR (glomerular filtration rate).

People with:

• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Heart disease 
• Obesity
• Family history of CKD
• Smokers

People in the early stages of CKD may have few symptoms. As the disease progresses, symptoms can include:

• Itching
• Muscle cramps
• Nausea, vomiting, and not feeling hungry
• Swelling in your feed and ankles
• Feeling mentally foggy or less sharp
• Too much or not enough urine
• Trouble catching your breath
• Trouble sleeping

In the advanced stages of CKD, known as end stage kidney disease (ESKD), if your kidneys fail, you may experience symptoms including:

• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhea
• Nosebleeds
• Back pain
• Fever
• Rashes

Treatment for CKD includes treating any underlying condition that’s damaging your kidneys, like diabetes or high blood pressure, and helping your kidneys remove waste and fluid from your body.

For people with ESKD whose kidney function is 20% or less, treatment options include dialysis and kidney transplantation. Dialysis removes waste and extra fluid from your blood mechanically when your kidneys can no longer do it on their own. Dialysis can be performed at a dialysis center or at home. Unfortunately, dialysis is a very disruptive and difficult way to live.

With kidney transplantation, a healthy kidney from a deceased or living donor is placed in your body and takes over the work of filtering waste and excess fluid. A living donor transplant offers many benefits including making your wait time much shorter, cutting it from years to months.

A transplant can help you get back to living a healthy, active life. It also can help you live longer than you would if you stayed on dialysis. Your transplant team will talk with you about the benefits and risks of transplant.

You don’t need a referral from your doctor to get evaluated for a kidney transplant. You just need to have chronic kidney disease and kidney function that’s close to or below 20%.

Don’t miss the chance for a transplant because you think you might not qualify. The transplant team’s job is to figure out whether a transplant is a good choice for you.

MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute provides expert care for end-stage kidney disease and complications of diabetes. And we perform far more living donor kidney transplants than any other program in the area.

Call us at 202-444-3701 or click below to find out if you have CKD or to schedule a transplant evaluation.

One to three days for the donor.

Two weeks for the donor.

There is very little risk to being a kidney donor, either short-term or long-term. Short-term, the risk of dying from the surgery is about 0.03% (3 in 10,000). Major complications are unusual. In the long-term, having been a donor does not influence the risk of kidney failure, high blood pressure or diabetes. Recent studies show that kidney donors have longer life expectancy than predicted.

Each surgery, one for the donor and one for the recipient, lasts approximately three-five hours.

Wait time for a donor organ is dependent upon several factors. These include your blood type, tissue matching, presence of preformed antibodies, and the time from which you began dialysis.

Expected patient waiting times will vary depending upon your geographical location within the United States as well as the local Organ Procurement Organization (OPO).

The following lists of websites can be used as a source for information regarding the organ transplant wait list, waiting times, and organ donation.

• unos.org
• optn.transplant.hrsa.gov
• transplantliving.org

Average wait times in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region are as follows:

• Blood Group A: 3 years (1095-1190 days)
• Blood Group B: 5-6 years (1838-2125 days)
• Blood Group O: 5 years (1778-1891 days)
• Blood Group AB: 2 years (578-866 days)

Your wait time will be calculated from the day you started dialysis (not the date you completed your evaluation). For patients listed before they started dialysis, your time will still calculate from your date of listing.

We typically like to see patients once a year while on the waitlist so that we can keep updated on medical issues that might affect getting a transplant.

For patients with more significant medical history, we may see you as frequently as every 6 months.

While we may only be in touch with you every 6-12 months, you should always feel free to contact us at 202-444-3701.

If you are already on the waiting list for a kidney or kidney-pancreas transplant at another transplant center, there are important advantages to choosing to also be placed on the waiting list at MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute. This is called dual or multiple listing.

Our transplant team operates 24/7, unlike most other centers, which means we receive a high volume of organ offers and perform more transplants. In 2024, we performed 274 deceased donor kidney transplants and 42 kidney-pancreas transplants, a higher number than any other center in the region, with excellent outcomes for our patients.

We also have a dedicated operating room space that allows us to perform as many transplants as needed and a unique, proactive approach to evaluating organ offers that other centers don’t have the expertise to consider. This further expands our patients’ access to transplants.

Thanks to our experience, expertise, expanded operating hours, and dedicated transplant operating space, our patients’ time on the waiting list for a new kidney or kidney and pancreas has dropped significantly in the last year, making the wait time for these life-saving transplants one of the shortest in the region.

We would like to hear about any and all significant changes to your medical condition

• Any time you have surgery
• Any time you require an overnight hospital stay
• Any abnormal screening tests ordered by your primary care provider
• When in doubt- call us! We would rather hear too much than too little

We want to know about any change in your contact information:

• Any time you move or change your phone number
• Any change in your dialysis center
• Any change in your nephrologist or primary care doctor

We want to know about any change in your insurance information:

• When you change insurance plans, we need to make sure that you still have coverage for all of the needed post-transplant medications.

If you are having elective surgery of any kind, you should let us know before the surgery happens.

1. Monthly blood testing (1 red top tube)
   • We need a sample of blood sent to our lab every month you are on the list. We use this blood to test you against the donor kidneys to make sure you are a match. If we do not have blood from you, we cannot test the kidneys, and you will not be offered a transplant.
   • If you are on dialysis, your dialysis unit should be taking care of this. Be sure to check with your dialysis center that this is being done. If you are not yet on dialysis, you should receive the required supplies in the mail so that you can have the blood drawn locally.
2. Annual testing for Hepatitis and other viruses
   • We will do this for you at your annual visits to the transplant center
3. Annual chest X-ray and electrocardiogram
4. Repeat heart testing (a stress test and an echocardiogram) every 2 years
5. You must keep current with standard screening tests including (as appropriate) pap-smears, mammograms, colonoscopy, and prostate specific antigen testing
   • PSA tests should be updated yearly (men over 50)
   • Mammograms should be updated every 1-2 years (women over 40)
   • Pap smears should be updated every 2-3 years (all women)
   • Colonoscopies should be updated every 5-10 years (all patients over 50)

Donors can be anyone who is healthy enough to donate

• They do not have to be related to you
• They do not have to be of the same age, race, or sex as you

The kidney you receive must be of a compatible blood type

• Blood group A recipients can receive from Blood Group A or O (75% of all people)
• Blood group B recipients can receive from Blood Group B or O (50% of all people)
• Blood group O recipients can receive from Blood Group O (45% of all people)
• Blood group AB recipients can receive from all blood groups

You cannot have any antibodies against the kidney you receive.

• People can make antibodies against a kidney in the following ways:
  • They have received blood transfusions
  • They have been pregnant
  • They have had a prior transplant.
• If any of these occur, you should let the transplant institute know so that we can re-test your antibody levels.

Even if you know you have a donor who is incompatible, they may still help you get a transplant through a paired kidney exchange.

Even if you looked for a potential living donor in the past it’s important to always think of new possibilities.

Patients may have a living donor who is not able to donate directly to them because of a different blood group, or because of antibodies in the recipient’s blood. These donors can still donate their kidneys via Paired Kidney Exchange (PKE).

In a PKE, your donor will donate their kidney to another patient on our list (with whom they are compatible) and you will receive a kidney from that person’s living donor.

• Through PKE, you will always receive a living donor kidney
• The transplants are done virtually simultaneously (within a day of each other) so we will not ask you to offer a donor in the hope of some future transplant
• Because we must clear both sides of these exchanges, it can take several weeks or months to find an acceptable pair to match you and your donor.

At the MedStar Georgetown Transplant Institute, we do paired exchanges within our center, but we are also part of the National Kidney Registry (NKR) and the UNOS Kidney Paired Donation Program, which allows us to do paired exchanges with other centers across the country.

• This will improve your chance of finding a matching pair
• Participation in the NKR or UNOS KPD program does not require either you or your donor to travel to any other center. Your surgery will still be done at MedStar Georgetown.

Paired Kidney Exchange offers the best option for patients who are highly sensitized from prior transplants, blood transfusions, or pregnancies to receive a matched organ. Even if you are compatible with your donor, paired kidney exchange may be able to give you a better quality kidney than your original donor. You should ask your coordinator about compatible paired kidney exchange if you are interested in this option.

Potential donors must contact the transplant institute. Our donor liaison can be reached at 202-444-3701.

Donors will first be sent a questionnaire to see if they are healthy enough to donate.

If they pass the screening questions, the next step is to do blood tests to see if they are a match.

If both of those steps pass, they will need to come to see us at the transplant institute to complete their evaluation.