Lanka Hospitals’ brings world-class kidney care experience to Sri Lanka

More than fifty years ago, on December 23rd 1954, a kidney was transplanted from one healthy identical twin to his twin brother who was dying of renal disease. The operation was successful, renal function was restored, and the donor suffered no ill effects. This was the first successful transplantation, performed against a background of failure.

For this reason it created enormous excitement, both in the media and amongst medical professionals, at a time when the pioneers of kidney transplantation were despondent about the possibility of any real clinical application. Without question, since that momentous occasion in 1954, kidney transplantation has remained an enormously exciting field and can be considered one of the medical miracles of the 20th century.

From the standpoint of the patient in need of a transplant, there is almost universal agreement among transplant professionals that a living donor kidney transplant is the preferred course. A living donor transplant is the transplantation of an organ -- or part of an organ -- from a living donor to a transplant recipient.

And as the most common form of living donor transplant, more than one-third of all kidney transplant recipients now receive one of the two kidneys from a living donor. Addressing advanced cases such as these, today, the Kidney Care Centre at Lanka Hospitals offers comprehensive and specialised care for kidney disease and related problems which may lead to such transplants. It provides dialysis and kidney transplants by the best and most respected nephrologists in the country. The Centre performs more transplants than any other hospital in Sri Lanka, and is focused on performing more cadaveric and paediatric transplants.

According to Dr. Wimal Karandagoda, Director Medical Services of Lanka Hospitals, “the hospital has done up to date the highest number of transplants compared to any other private hospital in Sri Lanka since 2003.” Adding that even at present Lanka Hospitals performs the highest number of transplants in the country compared to any other hospital in the private sector. “We also have a transplant coordinator, a doctor who coordinates between the nephrologists and the centre, between the ethical committee and the specialist doctors etc, to ensure the patient gets the best possible clinical outcome and personalised service.”

According to the Director Medical Services, in another interesting case, a 46 year old man suffered cardiac arrest in the hospital elevator and was resuscitated by a resident cardiologist who happened to be travelling in the same elevator. He was later transferred to the ICU where he was found to have both heart disease as well as kidney failure. He initially underwent bypass surgery and three months later had a kidney transplant. “We have carried out many post-bypass kidney transplants successfully to date - where patients who have both heart and kidney problems have to first have heart bypass surgery done and subsequently a kidney transplant. The centre has also carried out many other transplants with almost 100% success rate,” he added.

The Lanka Hospitals Kidney Transplant Unit at the Kidney Care Centre has six different teams performing transplants regularly for both paediatric and adult kidney transplants. This unit has the ability to carry out Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy, where kidneys from donors can be removed with the smallest of cuts. The hospital also has a separate transplant ICU, with dedicated doctors and nurses 24 hours a day, and has done the largest number of kidney transplants in the private sector to date. The unit has the ability to carry out both live and cadaver transplants. According to Dr Sujith Somiah, Consultant Resident Nephrologist of Lanka Hospitals, it has a donor selection and ethical committee and strictly follows the Tissue Transplant Act of Sri Lanka. He further stated that the Kidney Care Centre at Lanka hospitals has high focus on general nephrology dialysis and transplantation. Patients coming to Lanka hospitals Kidney Care Centre are treated 24 hours by the largest number of the best and the most respected nephrologists in the country who are both visiting and practicing nephrologists from here and abroad.

“I am proud to state that our transplant programme is extended beyond Sri Lankan shores. We actively support other countries that do not have their own transplant programmes - such as Fijiand Maldives. Once approved by the government of the respective country, where the donor and the recipient both are from the same country, we facilitate the health care system of those countries by including the patients into our transplant programme where our transplant is performed by our team at Lanka Hospitals” stated the CEO of Lanka Hospitals Mr Lakith Peiris, further stating that they have been very successful with the holiday dialysis package for foreigners who come to Sri Lanka to spend their holiday as well. The hospital carries out assessments and treatment for tourists according to the advice of the doctors in their own country. He further added that Lanka hospitals is the only health care institution in Sri Lanka that does and is capable of doing nuclear scans for transplant kidneys.

Dr. Niroshini Ganegoda, the Senior Medical Officer and  Coordinator of the Kidney Care Centre stated that standard treatments carried out at the centre include Haemodialysis - High Flux/Low Flux which temporarily eliminates harmful body waste, extra salt and extra water, controls blood pressure and maintains proper chemical balance; Peritoneal Dialysis which filters waste, chemicals, and extra water from your body using the lining of your abdomen to filter your blood; and Dialysis Catheter Insertion, the process by which blood is transferred between the Haemodialysis machine and the patient. The recently expanded unit boasts of the latest technology in the form of new machines from Germany, which also feature online blood pressure monitoring and these machines are continuously disinfected to ensure safety against hospital associated infections.

“I consider the Kidney Care Centre an area that gives immense value to the hospital and is a fine testimonial to the fact that Lanka Hospitals is a provider of comparatively superior medical care - all in a patient centred, family focused environment coupled with personalised care. Lanka Hospitals gives every patient a positive experience that they have never experienced before in the hospital industry” stated the CEO of Lanka Hospitals in conclusion, to which the Director Medical Services added that “the Kidney Centre will make a distinct contribution by helping to alleviate the suffering that people with kidney disease undergo every day.”