UAE’s Burjeel Medical City Successfully Carries Out Its First Kidney Transplant

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates — Providing an option for local and international patients to undergo kidney transplantation in private hospitals in the UAE’s Abu Dhabi, Burjeel Medical City (BMC) has started performing kidney transplantations. The first such transplantation was successfully performed on a patient from Kazakhstan at BMC, a quaternary healthcare center of excellence under Burjeel Holdings.

The patient had end-stage renal failure and was undergoing dialysis since March 2022. “The patient was physically fit and did not have other contraindications. The surgery was conducted after both the patient and the donor (the patient’s nephew) underwent thorough evaluations and were deemed fit for the procedure,” said Dr. Rehan Saif, Director - Transplant Surgery, BMC.

Dr. Venkat S Vellanki, Consultant Nephrologist, BMC, who was also part of the medical team, said, “Very few institutions can offer 360-degree, 24x7 care for kidney patients with complex medical requirements under one roof. We have a multidisciplinary team backed by cutting-edge technology to facilitate kidney transplantation service. BMC can efficiently meet kidney patients’ diverse and personalized needs.”

The donor surgery was performed using the latest 3D laparoscopic technology, a minimally invasive method meant to improve donor safety. After the donor surgery was completed in four hours, the back bench preparation of the graft took 45 minutes. The recipient surgery was completed in four hours. According to the medical team, both the patient and the donor are recovering well.

Naser Al Riyami, Chief Operating Officer, BMC, said, “Our longstanding experience in healthcare has taught us valuable lessons in meeting the needs and requirements of people from around the world. We take our responsibility of providing patients with exceptional service and medical care seriously. We hope that such procedures will attract more medical tourists to the UAE. In the future, we aim to set a benchmark in the area of kidney transplants.”