Study looks to find ways to make process easier for living kidney donors

A decade ago, Marian Reich made a decision that would eventually save the life of her sister-in-law, Susan.

She gave a living kidney donation.

It took a full year for Reich to complete the evaluation prior to having the surgery, a process she found challenging.

“I wasn’t fully aware that I had to be the driver of the process, and how to do that,” said Reich. “Having a better understanding of the whole picture would have been helpful while I was going through it.”

The evaluation process requires multiple visits to the transplant centre as well as some out-of-pocket expenses. Over that time, the intended recipient’s health may also deteriorate to the point they may no longer be eligible to receive a transplant.

“The evaluation process took one full year to complete, and in that time Susan lost the option of a pre-emptive transplant and started dialysis,” said Reich.

There were 219 living donor kidney transplants in 2019, a number that could be higher if not for a number of financial and physical barriers to becoming a living donor.

A team of doctors from Western University and Lawson Health Research Institute have been working to find efficiencies in the process in an effort to increase donation numbers, which have remained stagnant the last 10 years.

“From speaking with living donors, we know that some people find the evaluation process frustrating and cumbersome,” said Dr. Amit Garg, research lead and director of the Living Kidney Donor Program at London Health Sciences Centre.

“By improving the efficiency of the process, more living donor candidates could complete the evaluation and more transplants performed.”

The study found that out-of-pocket expenses were another major barrier for potential living donors, as was lack of available information about the process. Most people in the study said they weren’t aware of the extensive time commitment with the number of tests being performed.

A decade later, Reich says she still believes the lengthy process was well worth it.

“It was a small price to pay to give someone this gift.”