Cuttack: Two teams of doctors of SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) here have scripted history with successfully conducting two cadaveric kidney transplants in a day, Thursday.
Rajalaxmi Das, 46, of Puri’s Delang was admitted to a private healthcare facility in Bhubaneswar as she suffered critical injuries in a road mishap. Das was declared ‘brain dead’ Wednesday and her family gave their consent to donate her kidneys. It came as a boon for 57-year-old Ratnakar Mohanty from Kamakhyanagar and 46-year-old Ritarani Mohanta from Mayurbhanj.
“Soon after, the private hospital authorities contacted with SCB’s Nephrology head Chittaranjan Kar who is also the nodal officer of State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation. A team of healthcare experts, led by SCB Urology head Datteswar Hota, reached the private hospital early Thursday morning and began the procedure to harvest the kidneys from Rajalaxmi’s body,” said an official.
The official further said that the procedure began around 6.30am and concluded with harvesting of kidneys around 9am. Special arrangement was made to bring the kidneys to SCB. On the other hand, doctors at SCB were all set to give new lease of life to Ratnakar and Ritarani.
Two special teams comprising 11 doctors were constituted for the two transplantations. While the Nephrology head led a team, another team was headed by the Urology chief. The transplantations began at 9.30 and concluded around 1.20pm.
With end-stage renal disease, Ratnakar and Ritarani were on dialysis for the past two years. “We were unable to find kidney donors in all these months. We thank Rajalaxmi’s family for allowing the kidney donation as it saved two lives,” said the families of Ratnakar and Ritarani.
The families pledged that they would also donate organs in case of any eventualities.
Notably, the first-ever cadaveric kidney transplant in Odisha was performed by a team of SCB doctors at the premier state-run healthcare facility February 4. Two kidneys extracted from Ganjam’s Priyankarani Patra saved two lives.