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Treatment Options: Dialysis, Transplantation, and Donation
Find answers to questions many people ask about kidney failure and treatment options for people with kidney failure:
- What is kidney failure?
- What treatment options are there for someone who has kidney failure?
- What are living and deceased kidney donation?
- How does dialysis compare to kidney transplantation?
- How does living donor transplantation compare to deceased donor transplantation?
Watch a video of a doctor talking about the benefits of transplantation over dialysis.
Watch videos of a kidney transplant recipient who received dialysis before transplantation.
Learn more about the pros and cons of dialysis and transplantation and the history of kidney transplantation with graphics you can explore.
What is kidney failure?
Kidney failure or End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD) occurs when kidneys no longer work. When someone gets kidney failure, both kidneys stop working at the same time.
- What causes kidney failure
- How to help prevent and detect kidney disease
Dialysis
Dialysis is an ongoing treatment that can be done at a clinic, hospital, and at home. Dialysis replaces some kidney function.
- The pros and cons of dialysis
- The types of dialysis available for patients
- What it is like to be on dialysis
Kidney Transplantation
Kidney transplantation means that a healthy kidney from another person is put into a patient by surgery. Transplantation is the preferred treatment for End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD).
- The history of kidney transplantation
- Different types of transplants
- How you can get a transplant
- The pros and cons of kidney transplantation
How do they compare? Dialysis vs. Transplant
There are benefits and drawbacks to any treatment option. Click here to see a fact sheet of the pros and cons of dialysis versus transplant.
Test your knowledge about pros and cons of dialysis and transplantation in this game.
Deceased Donation
Deceased donation means that a kidney from a person who recently died is put into a patient whose kidneys have failed.
- How patients decide to get a deceased donor kidney
- How long patients need to wait
- The pros and cons of deceased donation
Living Kidney Donation
Living donation means that a living person gives one of his or her kidneys to a patient whose kidneys have failed. Living donors get to choose who they want to donate their kidney to. Kidneys from living donors last longer and work better than kidneys from deceased donors. Click here to see how kidneys from living donors last longer and work better than kidneys from deceased donors.
- The two kinds of living kidney donors
- How living donation compares to deceased donation
- The pros and cons of living donation
How do they compare? Deceased vs. Living Donation
There are benefits and drawbacks to any treatment option. Click here to see a fact sheet of the pros and cons of deceased vs. versus living donation.
Test your knowledge about pros and cons of deceased kidney donation and living kidney donation in this game.
Are Hispanics/Latinos getting as many kidney transplants as they need?
Hispanics/Latinos are 1.5 times more likely than non-Hispanics to have kidney failure, but less likely to get a kidney transplant. There are three main ways that Hispanics/Latinos are not getting as many transplants as they need.
1. Most recent data show that Hispanics/Latinos wait longer than Whites and African Americans to get a kidney transplant.
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One reason why Hispanics/Latinos wait longer is because there are fewer Hispanic/Latino deceased donors. Kidneys from donors are not matched with recipients on the basis of race or ethnicity. People of different racial or ethnic groups often match blood types with one another. However, all people waiting for a kidney transplant will have a better chance of getting a kidney if there are many donors from their racial/ethnic background. This is because similar or "compatible" blood types and tissue markers, which are important for matching donors and recipients, are more likely to be found among members of the same racial or ethnic group. A greater ethnic diversity of donors may help to increase access to kidney transplantation for everyone.
2. Fewer Hispanics/Latinos, like African Americans, get a kidney transplant compared to Whites.
People who got a kidney transplant in 2012 by ethnic/racial group.
People currently on the waiting list by ethnic/racial group
Based on OPTN Data as of April 12, 2013
3. Fewer Hispanics/Latinos get a living donor kidney transplant than Whites. More Hispanics/Latinos get a living donor kidney transplant than African Americans.
Based on OPTN DATA as of June 29, 2012
There are several reasons why Hispanics/Latinos are not getting as many kidney transplants as they need or not donating organs:
- Lack of knowledge about living kidney donation and transplantation
- Beliefs and misunderstandings about kidney donation and transplantation
- Fear of living kidney donation
- Distrust of the healthcare system
- Economic factors
The Infórmate Website was created to address to these concerns.
Reference and Publication Information
Three Options for patients with kidney failure
National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC). Insuficiencia Renal: Cómo escoger el mejor tratamiento para usted. URL: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/Spanish/pubs/choosingtreatment/index.aspx
National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC). Kidney Failure: Choosing a Treatment That's Right for You. URL: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/choosingtreatment/
Treatment option: Dialysis
Alvaro EM, Siegel JT, Crano WD, Dominick A. A mass mediated intervention on Hispanic live kidney donation. Journal of Health Communication 2010;15(4):374-387.
Hedayati SS, Finkelstein FO. Epidemiology, diagnosis, and management of depression in patients with CKD. American Journal of Kidney Disease 2009;54:741-52.
Kimmel PL, Levy NB. Psychology and rehabilitation. In: Daugirdas JT, Blake PG, Ing TS, editors. Handbook of Dialysis, 3rd Edition. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins 2001; 413-419.
Kimmel PL, Peterson RA. Depression in patients with end-stage renal disease treated with dialysis: Has the time to treat arrived? Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 2006;1:349-52.
Manns BJ, Johnson JA, Taub K et al (2002) Dialysis adequacy and health related quality of life in hemodialysis patients. ASAIO J 48:565–569.
National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC). Insuficiencia Renal: Cómo escoger el mejor tratamiento para usted. URL: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/Spanish/pubs/choosingtreatment/index.aspx
National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC). Kidney Failure: Choosing a Treatment That's Right for You. URL: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/choosingtreatment/
Are Hispanics/Latinos getting as many kidney transplants as they need?
U S Renal Data System, USRDS 2012 Annual Data Report: Atlas of Chronic Kidney Disease and End-Stage Renal Disease in the United States, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD, 2012.
How long do patients need to wait for a deceased donor transplant?
Kidney Candidates (Patients) on the Waiting List: January 2000 - December 2011. By 'as of' Date provided and Candidate Ethnicity Category Requested (Hispanic, Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Non-White). Based on OPTN data as of July 6, 2012.
OPTN/Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). 2011 Annual Data Report. Tables 1.3, 1.6, 1.7. URL: http://srtr.transplant.hrsa.gov/annual_reports/2011/Default.aspx
UNOS/OPTN. Based on data as of June 29, 2012.
Can patients choose to refuse dialysis?
Chater S, Davison SN, Germain MJ, Cohen LM. Withdrawal from dialysis: A palliative care perspective. Clinical Nephrology 2006;66(5):364-72.
Treatment Choice: Refusing or Withdrawing from Treatment. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC). URL: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/choosingtreatment/index.aspx#refuse
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Last Updated: 7/10/2015
