Transplant Surgeries in India
Transplant surgery is one of the most important advancements of medical science. It is the surgical removal of an organ, tissue, or blood products from a donor and surgically placing or infusing them into a recipient.
Purpose of Transplant surgeries:-
Transplant surgery is an option for such diseases that could not be treated with other medical treatments and have led to organ failure or injury. Transplant surgery is usually reserved for people who are suffering from terminal diseases and have no other option. The decision to perform transplant surgery is taken on the basis of patient's age, general physical condition, diagnosis and stage of the disease he is suffering from. However, this surgery is not recommended for patients who have liver, lung, or kidney problems, poor leg circulation, cancer, or chronic infections.
Transplantation medicine is one of the most complex and challenging areas of modern medicine. Some of the key problem areas for medical management are the problems of transplant rejection, during which the body has an autoimmune response to the transplanted organ. This can possibly lead to transplant failure and the transplanted organ will need to be immediately removed from the body of the recipient. Transplant rejections can generally be reduced through serotyping to determine the most appropriate donor-recipient match and also through the use of immunosuppressant drugs.
Types of Transplant Surgeries:-
Since transplant surgeries require grafting of an organ or tissue in the recipient’s body, it becomes very important to know the least risky situation for this procedure. Following are some of the major types of transplant surgeries:
Autograft:- In this type of transplant, tissue is transplanted from one part of the body to another in the same individual. It is also known as auto transplant. Sometimes this is done with tissue that is in surplus or tissue that can regenerate and sometimes with tissues that are more desperately needed elsewhere.
Allograft:- An allograft is a transplant of an organ or tissue between two members of the same species, but who are genetically non-identical. In most cases, the human tissue and organ transplants are allograft. However, due to the genetic differences between the organ and the recipient, the recipient's immune system identifies the organ as foreign and attempts to destroy it, resulting in transplant rejection. To avoid this, the organ recipient is advised to take immunosuppressant. This affects the entire immune system, and makes the body vulnerable to pathogens.
Isograft:- This type of transplant is basically a subset of allograft in which organs or tissues are transplanted from a donor to a recipient who is genetically identical e.g. identical twin. Isografts are differentiated from other transplants because they don't trigger an immune response.
Transplant Surgeries in India:-
Like other medical procedures in India, transplant surgeries can be availed here at an affordable price as compared to other parts of the world. The state-of-art hospitals with all the latest equipments and expert doctors to handle every detail make India one of the best places to get transplant surgery done. Some of the best hospitals like All India Institute of Medical Science, Apollo Hospitals, Christian Medical College, Escorts Heart Institute etc. all have a separate transplant surgery unit to cater to specific needs of patients looking for a transplant. Transplants are generally done to save terminally ill people and it has proved to be life saving in most case.