What is kidney transplant rejection?

Kidney transplant rejection is when the body's immune system recognizes a transplanted kidney as foreign and tries to attack it. This can lead to organ failure and potentially death if not treated quickly. The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) estimates that around 20% of kidney transplants are rejected within 1 year of transplantation.

The most common type of rejection is acute, which typically occurs within weeks or months after the transplant procedure. Symptoms may include high blood pressure in the graft, fever, pain in the abdomen or flank area where the new kidney was placed, chills, nausea, vomiting and decreased urine production from the graft kidney.

In order to diagnose transplant rejection a biopsy can be taken from the recipient’s transplanted organ. This allows doctors to measure levels of white blood cells present in order to determine if they are attacking any tissue in that area as this might indicate rejection has occurred. In some cases surgeons will also take serum creatinine readings which can help detect signs of dysfunctioning kidneys due to inflammation caused by toxins released by white blood cells during an episode of acute rejection.

Treating acute rejection typically involves immunosuppressant medications prescribed through IV infusion or oral therapy which aims at suppressing white cell activity thus reducing inflammation responsible for causing symptoms such as those mentioned above.. Proper follow up with your doctor for regular checkups post-transplantation plays an important role in helping prevent episodes of chronic kidney disease following a successful transplant procedure .