Dr. Vikas Singh is a highly specialized Consultant Urologist and Kidney Transplant Surgeon in Indore, focused on providing definitive, life-saving surgery for patients with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). His expertise lies in the precise surgical implantation of the donor kidney (the Recipient Operation) and the minimally invasive Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy (kidney retrieval) for living donors. He ensures meticulous vascular and ureteral anastomosis—the critical connections that determine the long-term success of the transplant. His goal is to execute technically flawless surgery to ensure optimal graft function.
Dr. Singh attained his medical education and vast surgical experience from various top and premier institutes of New Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Indore (2005-2018), including PGI Chandigarh, Max Super-Speciality Hospital, Saket, New Delhi, SMS Medical College Jaipur, and MGM Medical College Indore. He is a recipient of multiple awards, honors, and fellowships.
He currently holds the record of doing 100 kidney transplants cases earliest in his career for any surgeon in India, individually. He also has experience of more than 500 kidney transplants as a team member in top private and government hospitals of the country.
Focusing on meticulous surgical technique for immediate graft function and long-term success.
Using keyhole surgery to retrieve the donor kidney, significantly minimizing donor pain and recovery time.
Expertise in complex vascular and multi-arterial connections during the recipient implantation phase.
Before the recipient surgery, detailed imaging like CT Angiography is mandatory. This confirms the quality, size, and course of the iliac vessels (artery and vein) where the new kidney will be surgically connected, minimizing surgical time and complications.
Image 1: Pre-op Vessel Mapping
CT Angiography provides critical detail on the recipient’s iliac artery and vein, essential for planning the life-sustaining vascular anastomosis.
For Live Donor Transplantation, the surgical focus begins with the donor. We specialize in Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy, which uses small incisions for retrieval. The surgeon must minimize the "warm ischemia time" (time the kidney is without circulation) to protect the graft.
Image 2: Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy
Dr. Vikas Singh, kidney transplant surgeon, performing donor nephrectomy by laparoscopic method—ensuring faster recovery for the living donor.
The recipient surgery involves a strategic incision, usually in the right or left iliac fossa (lower abdomen), to expose the major vessels. This allows the surgeon to access the iliac artery and iliac vein for the critical anastomosis (joining) of the donor kidney's blood supply.
Image 3: Recipient Implantation
The new kidney is placed in the iliac fossa, and the critical vascular anastomosis is performed to connect the blood vessels, restoring life-sustaining circulation.
This is the most critical technical step, involving the surgical joining of the donor renal artery to the recipient’s iliac artery and the donor renal vein to the recipient’s iliac vein. Performed with microscopic precision, the success of the transplant hinges on creating leak-proof, wide, and smooth connections for optimal blood flow to the new kidney.
Key Focus: Achieving perfect connections to minimize complications like thrombosis (clots) or stenosis (narrowing).
The final connection is implanting the donor ureter (the tube carrying urine) into the recipient’s bladder. Dr. Singh uses specific techniques (like the Lich-Gregoir method) to create a submucosal tunnel. This acts as a valve to prevent urine reflux from the bladder back into the new kidney, protecting it from infection and ensuring long-term health.
Key Focus: Preventing urine leak and reflux, which are major sources of infection and graft damage post-surgery.
The most profound benefit: eliminating the need for regular, time-consuming dialysis sessions.
Restoration of kidney function improves overall physical health, boosting energy and stamina.
Kidney transplantation is proven to offer better long-term survival rates compared to remaining on dialysis.
The use of minimally invasive Laparoscopic Nephrectomy ensures the best possible outcome and fastest recovery for the live donor.
Recipient surgery requires an average hospital stay of 5-7 days. The focus is on early graft function, monitoring urine output, and carefully managing the first doses of immunosuppressive drugs to prevent rejection.
A urinary catheter is typically removed within 3-5 days. A ureteral stent is often placed during surgery (to protect the ureter connection) and is removed endoscopically about 4-6 weeks post-transplant.
Surgical follow-up focuses on checking for site healing, monitoring for vascular or ureteric complications (like stenosis), and performing regular Doppler Ultrasound checks to ensure excellent blood flow to the graft.
Schedule a private, confidential consultation with Dr. Singh in Indore
The new kidney is typically placed in the iliac fossa (lower abdomen) on one side, usually the right. The native, failed kidneys are generally left in place unless there is a specific medical reason to remove them (like chronic infection or uncontrolled high blood pressure).
The surgery involves two critical connections (anastomoses): the renal artery of the new kidney is sewn to the recipient’s iliac artery, and the renal vein is sewn to the recipient’s iliac vein. Lastly, the ureter is connected to the bladder (ureteroneocystostomy).
No, usually the old kidneys are left in place. The transplanted kidney is placed in the lower abdomen. Removal of the native kidneys is only done if they are causing severe problems such as uncontrolled infection, very high blood pressure, or are grossly enlarged (e.g., from polycystic kidney disease).
Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy is the minimally invasive surgical technique used to retrieve the kidney from the live donor. It uses small keyhole incisions, resulting in less pain, reduced hospital stay (typically 2-3 days), and a faster return to normal activity compared to traditional open surgery.
Warm Ischemia Time is the period when the donor kidney is without blood circulation at body temperature, typically between clamping the donor vessels and connecting the new vessels in the recipient. Minimizing this time is crucial for preserving the health and function of the new kidney graft.
A small, temporary tube called a ureteral stent is often placed between the new kidney and the bladder. Its purpose is to ensure the newly created connection (ureteral anastomosis) heals properly and prevents any early urine leak or narrowing of the ureter. It is typically removed a few weeks later in a quick outpatient procedure.
While the nephrologist manages long-term immunosuppression, the surgical team ensures the technical aspects are perfect—specifically, that the vascular anastomoses are flawless. Good blood flow is the first line of defense; complications like thrombosis or strictures can mimic rejection or lead to graft failure, even if the medication is perfect.
The primary surgical risks are vascular thrombosis (clotting off the artery/vein), urine leak at the ureter-bladder connection, or subsequent ureteral stricture (narrowing) months later. Expert surgical technique is designed specifically to mitigate these risks.
Thanks to Laparoscopic Donor Nephrectomy, the live donor’s hospital stay is usually just 2-3 days. Most donors are able to return to light activity within 2-4 weeks and can resume all normal activities, including heavy exercise, within 6-8 weeks, living a normal, healthy life with one kidney.
The recipient operation, from the initial incision to the final skin closure, typically takes about 3 to 4 hours. The most critical time is the vascular anastomosis, which is performed quickly and precisely by the transplant surgeon.
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