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Treatment

Kidney Transplantation

Key Points about Kidney Transplants in Children

  • A kidney transplant is surgery to place a healthy kidney from another person into someone with severe kidney problems.
  • Transplanted organs can come from deceased or living donors — and you could be a match.
  • You and your child will work with a comprehensive kidney transplant team before, during and after the process which will include evaluations, diagnostic tests and a period of waiting for the right match.
  • Living with a transplant is a lifelong process. Antirejection medicine (immunosuppressants) must be taken for the rest of your child’s life.

Frequently Asked Questions

About Kidney Transplants

What is a kidney transplant?

Why is a kidney transplant recommended?

Where do transplanted organs come from?

Waiting for a Kidney Transplant

What is the transplant waiting list?

How is my child placed on the waiting list for a new kidney?

How long will it take to get a new kidney?

How are we notified when a kidney is available?

Kidney Transplant Surgery

What is involved in kidney transplant surgery?

What does postoperative care for kidney transplant involve?

What is rejection?

What are the symptoms of rejection?

What is done to prevent rejection?

What about infection?

What is the long-term outlook for a child after a kidney transplant?

Meet the Kidney Transplantation Providers

Patient Stories

  • Helping Zariyah Heal

    Before Zariyah was born, imaging showed that her kidneys were not functioning properly. Doctors at Children's National ― and a loving cousin who donated a kidney ― helped Zariyah grow into a happy, healthy child.

  • Making Every Child Feel Important

    As a child life specialist, Judy has provided comfort and compassion to young patients at Children's National Hospital for more than 30 years.

  • Patient and Family Advisory Council

    Some experts in pediatric care do not wear white coats, stethoscopes or scrubs. They are former patients and their families who call Children’s National their second home. Our Patient and Family Advisory Council, established in 2007, elevates the voices of those who have navigated complex health conditions to create positive systemic change at Children’s National.

Departments that Offer Kidney Transplantation

    Provider examining young patient

    Bone Health Program

    Orthopaedists at Children's National offer world-renowned expertise and life-changing care, including surgery, for children at high risk for bone fracture.

    Nurse practitioner in the Hand Program in the Division of Orthopaedics Surgery and Sports Medicine measures female patient's arm.

    Nephrology

    Learn how our highly skilled pediatric nephrology team works across divisions to manage the full range of kidney diseases in children, including dialysis and kidney transplantation.

    Patient in hospital bed with nurse

    Kidney Transplantation Program

    The Kidney Transplantation Program is the only one of its kind in the Washington, D.C., area focused on the needs of children and teens with kidney disease. Additionally, it is the region's only Medicare-approved center for kidney transplants in children and teens.

Girl Smiling and Clapping

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