Agartala : After spending almost 5 hours, Tripura successfully completed its first-ever kidney transplant of a 20-year-old boy at GB Pant and Agartala Government Medical College on Monday.

Speaking on the issue, the Medical Superintendent of GB Pant Hospital and Agartala Government Medical College, Dr Sankar Chakraborty, said that this marks the first kidney transplant in Tripura.

He mentioned that on August 21, 2023, they held a meeting on kidney transplantation, and on August 23, a committee was formed with the then Chief Medical Superintendent, now Director of Health Service, Dr. Sanjib Kumar Debbarma, as chairman.

 “As per the committee, all the doctors related to the transplant were included, and a protocol was made on January 4, 2024, which we forwarded to Chief Minister Prof. Dr. Manik Saha, and it was approved by him on January 18 on the same year. Step by step, we completed all the necessary procedures and started looking for a mentor in the Northeast region. We selected Shija Hospitals and Research Institute of Manipur, and they agreed to assist us on technical grounds,” he said.

Talking about the patient, Dr Chakraborty said that the 20-year-old boy was admitted in January this year with a creatinine level of 16, and since then, dialysis has been started at GB Pant Hospital.

“In Mukhyamantri Samipesu, chaired by Chief Minister Dr Saha, who is also the health minister, the patient along with his parents came to the Chief Minister, and we were instructed to take action. We spoke with SHIJA Hospital and other doctors in the state, conducted all necessary medical examinations of the patient, and signed an MoU with SHIJA in May this year.

We fixed July 8 for the operation. The mother of the patient has donated her kidney to his son. It was done free of cost, and the government covered all expenses, including the costs for the Manipur team. Some medicines and other accessories were brought from SHIJA Hospital,” he said.

Dr Guliver Potsangbam, a nephrologist from Shija Hospitals and Research Institute of Manipur who led the team, informed that the operation was successful and the patient is stable.

 “We performed the first surgery today. We visited the hospital several times to assess the adequacy of facilities, and any suggestions we made were promptly addressed. Everything moved smoothly after that.

We will continue mentoring the team of GB Pant and AGMC until they can perform the surgery independently. SHIJA has been performing kidney transplants since 2016 and has completed 114 kidney transplants,” he said.

He added that the operation started at 9 AM and concluded by 2:30 PM, with a 100% patient survival rate.

From GB Pant and AGMC, Deputy Medical Superintendent Dr Kanak Chowdhury, Dr Bijit Lodh, urologist; Dr Mukut Debnath, urologist; Dr Manas Gope, nephrologist; Dr Samaresh Pal, nephrologist; and others were present.