Hospital care after your transplant operation

After the kidney transplant operation, you will be transferred to the high dependency unit at Hammersmith hospital. You will be here for at least seven days. 

During this time, you will have: 

• a tube in your neck to measure your fluid and give you fluid on a temporary basis 
• small tubes in your hand to administer medication, pain relief and to give you extra fluids if needed
• a plastic tube on your abdomen, which will remove any excess blood or fluid from the operation 
• a tube in your bladder that passes through the urethra (which carries urine out of your body). This will help drain urine to monitor your fluid balance and to check how well the kidney is working 

Most of these tubes will come out around day three. 

You will have a hollow plastic tube (called a ureteric stent) placed between your bladder and new transplanted kidney: this helps to maintain the flow of urine while you are healing from the operation. This tube will be removed three weeks after the operation. This is a non-invasive procedure that can be done as a day case.