Simultaneous multi-organ transplants: When KIMSHEALTH hospital created history

Thiruvananthapuram: The organs of a 24-year-old native of Tamil Nadu was declared brain dead after an accident and gave new life to three patients by way of donating his liver, pancreas and kidneys. Meanwhile, KIMSHEALTH created a history of sorts in Kerala by transplanting the organs of the brain-dead person in three other patients simultaneously on January 9, this year.

It was a 24-hour-long procedure involving around a hundred healthcare professionals, including specialist doctors and nurses.

A 26-year-old woman and a 39-year-old man who were in need of two organs each underwent the first of its kind simultaneous transplant surgery. One of the patients received a portion of the liver and a kidney and another received pancreas along with a kidney. A 50-year-old woman suffering from liver disease received the remaining part of the liver. Such multi-organ transplant surgeries in the state are very rare. Moreover, the transplant of the pancreas was carried out for the first time in the southern part of the state.

This surgery was done by a team headed by Dr. Shiraz Ahmad Rather, Consultant Pancreatic and Multi-Organ Transplant Surgeon at KIMSHEALTH.

Pancreas and a kidney were transplanted parallelly to a patient suffering from Type 1 Diabetes with dysfunctional kidneys. In another surgery, the kidney and liver were transplanted to a 26-year-old woman whose kidney was impaired due to primary hyperoxaluria. Since the donor's liver was large and healthy enough for bisecting, the transplant to two patients was possible. It is also the first time in Kerala a split liver transplant was conducted.

Dr Shabeerali TU, Head of the Liver Transplant Department along with Dr Madhu Sasidharan, Consultant, Department of Hepatology led the liver transplant surgery and the kidney transplant was led by Dr Renu Thomas, Head of the Urology Department along with Dr. Praveen Muralidharan Transplant Director and Consultant, Department of Nephrology and Dr. Satish Balan, Consultant, Department of Nephrology.

“The success of the 24-hour-long surgery is attributed to the combined efforts of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff of the hospital,” said KIMSHEALTH Chairman and Managing Director Dr. M.I. Sahadulla. All three recipients are recovering well.

The surgeries were carried out under the supervision of Kerala Government's State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (K-SOTTO), entrusted to facilitate organ transplants. “The government made organ-donation criteria to help multi-organ-failure patients who are at increased risk. We follow national and international guidelines in this regard. The gesture by the donor’s family should be respected,” said Dr. Noble Gracious, Executive Director of K-SOTTO.

Department of Hepatobiliary and Liver Transplant Consultants Dr. Varghese Eldho, Dr Sreejith S, Department of Urology Consultants Dr. Nithya R, Dr. Sudhin SR, Department of Anesthesia Dr. Hashir A, Dr. Sahil, Dr. Divya S, Dr. Hari, Hepatology Department Consultant Dr Ajith K Nair, Transplant Procurement Manager Dr. R Muralidharan, Transplant Critical Care Consultant Dr Madhusudanan, Radiology Department Consultants Dr. Manish Kumar Yadav, Dr. KS Manoj, Transplant Nurse Manager Liju, transplant coordinators Sabeer Abhinand, and Pramitha were part of the team.

The multi-organ surgery received support from the Director of Medical Education (DME) Dr. Thomas Mathew, Principal of Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, Dr. Kala Keshavan and Head of the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology, Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, Dr. Ramesh Rajan.