Northwestern surgeons perform one of the first 'awake' kidney transplant surgeries

Doctors used a spinal anesthetic to numb the patient from the chest down, eliminating the use of narcotics and general anesthesia, cutting recovery time. The patient, John Nicholas, was released within 24 hours of the procedure.

By Violet Miller Jun 24, 2024, 6:00am EDT

Surgeons at Northwestern Medicine performed one of the first awake kidney transplants last month.

Dr. Satish Nadig, one of the transplant surgeons and director of the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive Transplant Center, along with transplant surgeon Dr. Vinayak Rohan and anesthesiologist Dr. Vicente Garcia Tomas performed the surgery in less than two hours, according to a press release from Northwestern Medicine.

The patient, 28-year-old Chicago resident John Nicholas, was released within 24 hours of the procedure — a day or two faster than the normal release time for patients under general anesthesia; in addition, he didn’t require prescription narcotics afterward. He also didn’t have to be put on a ventilator to keep him breathing.

Instead, he was given a spinal anesthetic to numb him from the chest down, similar to what is done in C-sections. Doctors say ventilators and general anesthetics could have extended his recovery time.

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There's been a breakthrough in organ transplants

JUNE 24, 2024 6:08 AM ET
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Surgeons at Northwestern Medicine say they successfully transplanted a kidney while the patient was awake.