Kidney transplant FAQs

Life expectancy for patients with kidney disease is very variable depending on age and other medical issues. Please discuss this with the team caring for you.

On average, a kidney transplant from a living donor lasts for 20-25 years, while a kidney from a deceased donor lasts 15-20 years.

This is very variable depending on the age of the donor and patient, and other medical issues. Please speak to your kidney care team for more personalised information.

Some patients are able to have additional kidney transplants after this.

For patients that receive a living donor kidney transplant, 99 out of 100 patients are alive after one year and 86 out of 100 are alive after ten years.

For patients that receive a deceased donor kidney transplant, 96 to 97 out of 100 patients are alive after one year and 72 to 76 out of 100 are alive after ten years.

Data from Annual Report on Kidney Transplantation (PDF, 3358KB)

Some patients have had a kidney transplant that has kept working for more than 40 years. Up-to-date records on the longest functioning kidney transplant are not kept.

All decisions on transplantation are made on a case-by-case basis. If you have concerns that you might be too old for a kidney transplant, please discuss this with your kidney care team.

The average wait for a deceased donor kidney transplant in the UK is 2-3 years.

If you have a living donor, it usually takes just 3-6 months to have the required tests on you and your donor and to arrange the transplant.

Learn more about waiting times

If you’re receiving a kidney from a living donor – the usual stay is 4 to 6 days.

If you’re receiving a kidney from a deceased donor - most patients stay in hospital for 6 to 10 days.

Learn about recovering from a kidney transplant

Everyone recovers at a different rate after a kidney transplant. For patients that worked before the transplant, they are usually back to work within 2-3 months of the transplant. Once the first few months after your operation have passed, it is likely that your kidney function will be stable and you won’t need to come to the transplant clinic as often. After the first 3-6 months, the risk of transplant rejection is lower and your medicines will usually reduce.

Learn about living with a kidney transplant

As with any major operation, there is a small risk of dying, but this is rare. The average risk of dying during the first few months after a kidney transplant is between 1-2 in 100 patients. However, this varies widely on a patient-by-patient basis.

Learn about the risks of a kidney transplant

This can happen with some patients and is known as ‘recurrence’.

Some kidney diseases can come back and affect the kidney transplant very quickly (days to weeks), but this is very rare. If this is a possibility, your kidney doctors and transplant surgeons will discuss this with you. If you have had difficult medical problems before you developed kidney failure, this may make it more difficult to have a transplant. You will have a number of different medical tests to see if a kidney transplant is the best treatment option for you.

Yes. It is possible to have multiple kidney transplants. You will need to either receive a kidney from a living donor or go back on the national transplant waiting list.

Yes, this is possible. Your general health will be taken into account. Please consider recording your wishes on organ donation in the national register.

Register to donate

There were 2,868 adult kidney transplants performed in 2021/2022 in the UK.

Data from Annual Report on Kidney Transplantation (PDF, 3358KB)

In the UK, around 5,000 people are in need of a kidney transplant.

Data from Annual Report on Kidney Transplantation (PDF, 3358KB)

Kidney transplant surgery takes between 2-4 hours.

Learn more about kidney transplant surgery