End-stage renal failure is serious. When it gets to the point where your child needs surgery, you want the area’s best care team treating them before, during, and after surgery. We are proud to provide:

• Excellent outcomes: AU Health has a 100% success rate for kidney transplants, defined by the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients as having a patient's transplanted kidney survive and function at both the one-year and the three-year mark. This success rate has given our patients a new lease on life!
• Dedicated transplant teams: Your child's care team consists of pediatric nephrologists, urologists, and surgeons who have treated scores of children, working tirelessly with the goal of getting your child back to their normal lives as quickly as possible.
• Kidney transplant expertise: When your child is ready for their surgery, they will have highly qualified kidney transplant surgeons and pediatric anesthesiologists who will collaborate seamlessly with your child's nephrology team.
• Child-friendly spaces: We know hospitals can be scary for kids. Our rooms are designed with children in mind because we want them to feel at ease when they come to us.
• Medical interpreters: We are fortunate to have a Spanish-speaking nephrologist available in our department who can help our Spanish-speaking patients understand their child’s medical care. We can also arrange interpreters for other non-English speaking patients and families.

The Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program is involved in every part of your child's care. We see patients from newborn to young adult, and will follow them into adulthood, offering a lifetime of support.

Cutting-edge treatments and procedures

Kidney surgery has come a long way, it is now safer and more effective than ever. At Children's Hospital of Georgia, we offer the following:

• Living Kidney Donor Program: Patients with a living donor do not have to wait as long for transplant; surgeries can be scheduled as soon as work-up is complete. Kidneys from living donors also last longer and provide patients with better outcomes.
• Preemptive transplants: When possible, we can perform surgery early, which could allow a patient to avoid going on dialysis altogether
• Minimally invasive surgery (MIS): We are fortunate that today we can perform many kidney procedures using MIS. Our urologist can use MIS to remove a kidney from a living-related donor, making the donation process more manageable because the donor has less pain and recovery time.

What to expect from our program

When a kidney transplant program has been around as long as ours, patients ultimately benefit from those years of experience. The expertise we have gained allows us to provide the wide range of care it takes to treat children with end-stage renal disease. Care includes:  

• Pre-op evaluation: Our nephrology team conducts a thorough pre-op evaluation of each transplant candidate. We get input from families so we can design a kidney transplant care plan that is best for their child.
• After-transplant monitoring: After your child's surgery is complete, they will go to the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) for post-operative monitoring. The PICU is staffed by pediatric intensivists who watch your child closely during recovery.
• Patient support: Nurses stay in close contact with families and function as case managers, handling every aspect of care including, setting up referrals to other specialists, helping with insurance, organizing transportation to CHOG, and making overnight/short-term stay arrangements for surgery patients and families at the Ronald McDonald House.

Additional Support Services

As a patient at CHOG, we offer ongoing support services from the moment your child is diagnosed. We are here to assist you with anything you need to help you deal with your child's transplant. We provide access to:

• Child life specialists, available to help children understand and cope with their illness and explain their surgical care.
• Social Workers, for families in need of help with other life challenges, we'll get you in touch with a social worker.