Authors
S Vasudevan, Additional Professor, Department of Urology, Medical College, Trivandrum
Abstract
Background: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) severely impacts life quality. Renal transplantation (RT) is a primary treatment aimed at improving renal function and enhancing patients’ quality of life (QOL), though research specifically on post-RT QOL is limited.
Methods: This article reviews QOL after RT, citing an exploratory qualitative study of five pre-transplant and five recent post-transplant ESRD patients. It also discusses various objective and subjective QOL assessment tools (e.g., SF36, KTQ, KDQOL) and evidence from larger studies.
Results: Pre-transplant, patients experienced stress from dialysis, social isolation, and fatigue. Post-transplantation, QOL generally improved, with patients feeling privileged despite persistent symptoms. A significant study highlighted that 79% of transplant recipients achieved near-normal function and 75% could work, substantially higher than dialysis patients. RT recipients reported higher life satisfaction, well-being, and psychological affect. While complications can negatively impact QOL, successful RT is associated with improved health-related quality of life (HRQL) compared to dialysis, is cheaper long-term, and has lower mortality.
Conclusion: Renal transplantation offers substantial improvements in quality of life, functional capacity, and psychological well-being for ESRD patients compared to dialysis, making it a superior treatment option despite potential complications and ongoing immunosuppressive therapy.