The Transplant Surgery
The day of the kidney transplant operation and the week after — what happens before, during, and after surgery, and what to expect from the team while you recover.
Key Points
- The operation itself takes about three to four hours; the new kidney is placed low in the abdomen on one side, and your own two kidneys are usually left in place.
- Most patients do not go to the intensive care unit — they recover on a step-down ward; the intensive care unit is reserved for patients with a heart condition, difficult fluid balance, or another specific risk identified before the operation.
- A small surgical drain is placed near the new kidney and comes out as soon as it stops producing fluid — usually within a few days.
- The urinary catheter stays in for about three to five days, sometimes longer if there is a specific reason; its removal is done at the bedside and is not painful.
- Most patients go home about a week after the operation — usually five to seven days — once the kidney is settled, the drain is out, and the drug doses are stable.
- Walking on the first day after the operation is one of the safest and most useful things you can do — it lowers the risk of clots, helps the chest, and restarts the bowels.
- Avoid heavy lifting for six weeks after the operation; gentle walking, climbing stairs, and most daily activities are fine.
- Call the transplant clinic for any fever above 38, sudden drop in urine output, a wound that becomes red or starts to leak, or pain that is worse than the day before.
Clinical review
Reviewed by Dr Osama Ashry Gheith, Consultant Transplant Nephrologist. Kuwait Center for Nephrology and Kidney Transplantation (KCNKT). Mansoura Urology and Nephrology Center, Egypt. Reviewed 1 August 2026.
About the Transplant Patient Portal
This chapter is part of ASNRT's bilingual (Arabic / English) transplant patient-education portal — 14 clinical chapters covering kidney transplantation from preparation through long-term follow-up, plus decision-aid tools for Ramadan fasting, drug-food interactions, and red-flag symptom triage.
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