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A 47-year-old man from Delhi has undergone a rare third kidney transplant, leaving him with a total of five kidneys in his body.
The complex surgery was performed at Amrita Hospital, Faridabad, and has allowed the patient to live a dialysis-free life after battling chronic kidney disease for over 15 years.
A Long Battle with Kidney Disease
The patient, Devendra Barlewar, had been struggling with chronic kidney disease since 2010. He underwent two kidney transplants in 2010 and 2012, both of which ultimately failed. His condition worsened significantly after complications from COVID-19 in 2022, further limiting his options for survival.
However, a ray of hope emerged when the family of a 50-year-old brain-dead farmer decided to donate his kidneys. This selfless act paved the way for Barlewar to receive a third kidney transplan, an extremely rare and complex procedure.
Dr. Ahmed Kamaal, Senior Consultant, Urology at Amrita Hospital, explained that the presence of four non-functioning kidneys, two native and two from previous transplants, posed a significant challenge. The biggest concerns were the risk of immune rejection and the limited space in the patient’s abdomen due to his thin build and a pre-existing incisional hernia.
Dr. Anil Sharma, another Senior Consultant in Urology, elaborated on the surgical complexities, “Since previous surgeries had already used the standard blood vessels, we had to connect the new kidney to the largest abdominal blood vessels. This made the procedure highly intricate and required extreme precision.”
The four-hour-long surgery required specialized immunosuppression protocols to minimize the risk of rejection. Despite the challenges, the transplant was successful.
Barlewar was discharged within ten days of the procedure, and his creatinine levels normalized within two weeks, allowing him to live without dialysis for the first time in years.
Expressing his gratitude, he said, “I had lost hope after two failed transplants. Dialysis had severely restricted my life. But the doctors at Amrita Hospital gave me another chance when no one else did. Today, I can perform daily activities independently, and my health has significantly improved.”
A Rare Case in Medical History
While kidney transplants are common, undergoing three such procedures and retaining multiple non-functional kidneys is extremely rare. In most cases, non-functioning transplanted kidneys are removed. However, in Barlewar’s case, all previous kidneys remained intact due to medical complications, making this an extraordinary case in the field of organ transplantation.
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