[quote=“boringkajj, post:22, topic:11644”]
The docs don’t remove the old kidneys (unless they’re causing a medical issue)…they just install a 3rd one up front of the body…just left or right of the belly button, above the hip. Gnarly scar. Chicks dig guys with scars…so I’m told.
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Yes we leave the patient’s kidneys in as a nephrectomy (removal) is a complicated operation in and of itself, so given how hard a transplant is, no reason to add a second complication to the process. And the non-working kidneys (as you note) unless they are actively harming you (through something like cancer) aren’t actively hurting you by anything other than not doing their job, so leaving them in place is way safer. Since we just attach the kidneys directly onto the abdominal aorta (this allows them to not have as long an artery from the donor compared to the natural kidney) makes it mechanically simpler. I’ve scrubbed on a double orthotopic kidney transplant (the donors kidneys were not so we had to implant 2) meant that she walked out with 4 kidneys in her body… (makes for an amusing CT-scan or MRI later when the medical student is confused why there are 4 glowing kidneys!)
And as someone said, please sign up to be an organ donor (and tell your relatives that it’s what you want). And if you have good kidneys now, take care of them!