Kidney transplantation · Planning your stay
How long does a living donor kidney transplant actually take?
From the first blood test to the flight home — every stage, in order, with the real number of days. Plan your time around these, not around guesswork.
The short answer
- Many tests can be done in your own country and sent to us before you travel. The rest take 2–3 days here.
- Surgery usually follows within 1–2 weeks of the final decision, depending on the operating schedule.
- The donor goes home on the third day. The recipient stays 4–6 days.
- The small internal stent comes out on day 14. If there are no problems, the patient can fly home.
- Check-ups continue every week for the first 3 months — from home, with results shared online.
The whole timeline at a glance
| Stage | When | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Tests that can be done at home, sent in advance | Before travel | Donor and recipient |
| Remaining tests and examinations | 2–3 days | Donor and recipient |
| Council decision | After all results are in | Transplant team |
| Surgery | Usually 1–2 weeks after the decision | Both |
| Donor discharged | Day 3 | Donor |
| Urinary catheter removed, recipient discharged | Day 4–6 | Recipient |
| Internal stent removed (5 minutes, no anaesthesia) | Day 14 | Recipient |
| Return home, if there are no problems | After stent removal | Both |
| Donor back to light work | Week 3–4 | Donor |
| Donor back to everything, including heavy lifting | Month 2 | Donor |
| Weekly check-ups end; recipient can usually return to work | Month 3 | Recipient |
Stage 1 — The tests
Once blood groups match, tissue compatibility is checked and explained to the family. The transplant coordinator then sends donor and recipient for a full work-up. For the donor, the purpose is simple: to be certain that giving a kidney is safe.
Patients coming from abroad do not have to wait until they arrive. Tests that can be done in your own country can be sent to us in advance through the BookingHospital form — so the days in Turkey are spent on what can only be done here.
What the donor goes through
- Blood tests — blood sugar and HbA1c, kidney and liver function, cholesterol, blood count, electrolytes.
- Infection screening — hepatitis B and C, CMV, HIV and others, plus urine, throat and stool samples. The recipient has the same.
- Blood pressure — the first thing checked, because high blood pressure damages kidneys. A single high reading can simply be nerves, so in doubtful cases a 24-hour monitor is worn on the arm through normal activity and sleep.
- Urine tests — a single sample and a 24-hour collection.
- Kidney filtration rate (GFR) — now usually calculated from blood values, without collecting urine.
- Heart — ECG and echocardiography.
- Imaging — chest and abdominal X-rays, and an ultrasound of the abdomen to look at the kidneys for cysts or stones.
- Kidney scintigraphy — measures how much work each kidney does separately.
- Imaging of the kidney blood vessels — by CT or MRI.
- Women over 40 — gynaecology consultation, mammography and a smear test.
- Psychiatric, urology and anaesthesia consultations.
Scintigraphy decides which kidney is taken. The rule is that the donor always keeps the stronger kidney — the one that does less work is the one transplanted. If both work equally, the left kidney is usually taken.
What is the crossmatch test, and what if it is positive?
The lymphocyte crossmatch mixes the recipient's blood with the donor's. Even when blood group and tissue type match, it gives an early signal of whether the body is likely to accept or reject the kidney.
A positive result is more common in women who have been on dialysis for a long time, had many blood transfusions, or given birth. A positive crossmatch does not automatically mean the transplant is impossible — the nephrologist re-evaluates both patient and donor.
The council
No single doctor approves a donor. The results go to a council — nephrology, surgery, psychiatry, urology, radiology, pathology, microbiology, the central laboratory, nuclear medicine and the transplant coordinator — and the final decision is taken together.
Why does preparation take months at some centres?
Under normal conditions, the preparation for a living donor transplant can be completed in 2–3 days. At some centres it stretches to 3–6 months. For a patient not yet on dialysis, that delay alone can cost the chance of a transplant before dialysis — the best kind.
Every patient has the right to ask the team about its record before agreeing to anything:
- How many transplants have you performed?
- How many of those kidneys are still working?
- How many of those patients are alive?
- How long will my preparation take, and when is the estimated surgery date?
A good centre answers these without hesitation.
Stage 2 — In hospital
The recipient usually stays 4–6 days, depending on how they recover. The donor is discharged on the third day.
- Walking starts the next morning. Sit on the edge of the bed with your feet down for about five minutes first, and look ahead while taking deep breaths on the first walks, so you do not feel dizzy.
- Breathing exercises — 5 to 10 times every waking hour, with a small device the team provides. This keeps the lungs clear and prevents pneumonia.
- A urinary catheter is placed during surgery to monitor the new kidney. It comes out after 4–6 days.
- A small stent — a thin tube between the new kidney and the bladder — helps urine flow while tissues heal. You will not feel it.
- Some discharge from the wound for a few days is normal.
- Training starts on day one. Nurses teach on the ward; the coordinator teaches at discharge. You leave with a written list of every medicine and when to take it.
Only close family is allowed on the transplant floor, to protect the patient from infection. Anyone with a cold or flu should phone instead of visiting. Children under ten need special permission from the transplant team.
Stage 3 — Going home, and the months after
For the recipient
- The stent comes out on day 14 — a 5-minute procedure in the urology clinic, with no anaesthesia and no pain.
- Stitches dissolve on their own — there is nothing to remove, and nothing to arrange for back home.
- If there are no problems after that, you can return to your country.
- No heavy lifting or heavy exercise for 3 months. Light exercise can start in the first weeks and does not harm the kidney.
- Work: the best time to return is generally after the third month, when check-ups become less frequent.
- Swimming in the sea: from 3 months.
For the donor
- Normal daily life from the second week, without lifting anything heavy.
- Light work after 3–4 weeks; heavy work after 6–8 weeks.
- After 2 months, everything they did before surgery.
- A check-up at least once a year, for life.
How often the recipient is checked
Most rejection episodes happen in the first six months — and most of those in the first three. That is why check-ups are so frequent early on. At the author's centre, the schedule is:
| Period after transplant | Check-up |
|---|---|
| First 3 months | Every week |
| Months 3–12 | Every 2 weeks |
| Year 1–2 | Every 2 months |
| After year 2 | Every 3 months |
What is not optional is keeping to it: patients who miss check-ups lose their kidneys sooner than patients who attend every one.
You do not need to fly back to Turkey for every check-up. Have the tests done where you live, and share the results with the transplant team through BookingHospital:
- through the online form,
- over WhatsApp,
- or in an online consultation.
The team reviews the results and adjusts your medicines from here.
"The angiogram is the worst part of being a donor."
Classical angiography — a catheter through the groin, then six hours lying still with a sandbag on the leg — was once the most feared test. It has now largely been replaced by CT or MRI, and is no different from any other scan.
Prof. Dr. Murat Tuncer
Nephrologist and transplant physician. Author of Kidney Transplantation — With Questions and Answers (Istanbul, 2020).
Planning your trip? Ask us first
Send the recipient's and the donor's latest reports. We will tell you which tests can be done before you travel, and give you a realistic timeline — before you book anything.
Medical disclaimer. This article is general information adapted from a published book. Timelines vary with each patient's condition and each centre's practice. It is not personal medical advice, it does not establish a doctor–patient relationship, and it cannot replace assessment by the physician treating you. Always confirm your own schedule with your transplant team before making travel or work arrangements.
References
- Abramowicz D, Cochat P, Claas FH, et al. European Renal Best Practice Guideline on kidney donor and recipient evaluation and perioperative care. Nephrol Dial Transplant 2015;30(11):1790–1797.