Kidney transplants are usually done with a patient fully unconscious under general anesthesia.
Doctors at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago have performed a kidney transplant on a patient who was awake the whole time.
"There are a lot of people that have heart and lung disease that also need a kidney transplant, and that just increases the risk of general anesthesia even more," Dr. Satish Nadig, Comprehensive Transplant Center director and chief of abdominal transplant surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago told Scripps News.
Being awake meant no invasive ventilator, and Nichols used his own lungs. He could breathe, talk and interact with doctors. Other benefits include a shorter procedure and a faster and smoother recovery.
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