Kathmandu, March 4

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli underwent successful kidney transplant surgery at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Maharajgunj, today. The new kidney placed on the left side of the urinary bladder has given a new lease of life to the country’s executive head, who had been on dialysis for over six months after the kidney transplanted 12 years ago started malfunctioning.

“The transplanted kidney is working well. The PM will receive further care until he fully recovers,” said Prem Krishna Khadga, executive director of the hospital.

The surgery was performed by a team of nine Nepali doctors. Two Indian doctors, including Senior Kidney Transplant Surgeon Anant Kumar, were on standby during the surgery.

The PM was taken to the operation theatre at 10:00am and the surgery lasted five hours — from 10:30am to 3:30pm. The 69-year-old PM has since been transferred to the transplant ward.  “The PM, who was administered anaesthesia during the surgery, is conscious and can talk. He is in good health and all his vital signs are sound,” said Prem Raj Gyawali, urology and kidney transplant surgeon, who took part in the surgery.

The PM will be served black tea tomorrow and will remain on liquid diet for a few days, according to doctors. He is likely to be discharged after five or six days if he stays clear of infection and doesn’t experience internal bleeding. “All will depend on his health,” said Khadga.

The PM was admitted to the hospital on Monday after his niece, Samikshya Sangraula, who is in her thirties, agreed to donate her kidney. The organ was extracted today from Sangraula’s body. Her health is normal, according to doctors.

This is the second time that the PM has undergone a kidney transplant. He had a renal transplant 12 years ago in Apollo Hospital, India. He has been undergoing routine health check-up in foreign countries since then. He was admitted to the Singapore-based National University Hospital in 2014 and was treated for an infectious swelling in his right hand. He also underwent health check-up at Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok.

The PM was admitted to Singapore-based National University Hospital twice in 2019 and had undergone plasmapheresis.

He was operated for appendicitis after he was diagnosed with appendicitis and infection in the stomach (peritonitis) in November 2019.

Meanwhile, the PM’s well-wishers thronged the hospital today to wish him a speedy recovery. A number of ministers also visited the hospital after the surgery.

Doctors behind successful surgery

• Kidney transplant surgery team: Uttam Kumar Sharma, Prem Raj Gyawali and Anant Kumar

• Nephrology and transplant medicine team: Dibya Singh Shah, Mahesh Sigdel, Mukunda Kaphle and Rabin Nepali

• Anil Shrestha (anaesthesia) and Subhash Acharya (critical care) also took part in the surgery