Pediatric Kidney Transplant

What is a Kidney Transplant?

A kidney (or renal) transplant is an operation during which a healthy donor kidney will be placed in the body of a person whose kidneys are no longer functioning properly.

If your child’s kidneys have stopped or will soon stop working, a transplant may be the only treatment option. The kidneys function to filter waste and fluids in the body. If they do not function properly, those wastes and fluids can accumulate and cause severe damage. In a kidney transplant, surgeons may (or may not) remove your child’s diseased kidney and will transplant a healthy kidney provided by a donor.

What are Children's Health's outcome metrics for pediatric kidney transplants?

Children’s Health Kidney Transplant Program began in 1979. Since that time, surgeons here have performed nearly 400 pediatric kidney transplants—a statistic that makes the hospital a leader in the number of kidney transplants performed in Texas.