Patient, 28, undergoes kidney transplant procedure awake and sees new organ during operation

Nicholas was in good spirits after the successful awake surgery.

In a groundbreaking procedure, a 28-year-old patient remained awake during a kidney transplant at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. John Nicholas, who lives in the Windy City, witnessed the organ that would soon be part of his body, as revealed by the hospital on Monday.

On May 24, Northwestern Medicine doctors opted for spinal anesthesia, commonly used in cesarean sections, instead of the usual general anesthesia. Transplant surgeon Dr. Satish Nadig explained that this approach made the kidney transplant akin to an outpatient procedure.

“Our hope is that awake kidney transplantation can decrease some of the risks of general anesthesia while also shortening a patient’s hospital stay,” said Dr. Nadig, director of the hospital’s transplant center. “Inside the operating room, it was an incredible experience being able to show a patient what their new kidney looked like before placing it inside the body.”

Dr. Vicente Garcia Tomas added that the procedure was simpler and more uneventful than many C-sections.

Nicholas, who was also slightly sedated, described the experience as “pretty cool,” noting he didn’t feel any pain and was unaware the surgery had started. “At one point during surgery, I recall asking, ‘Should I be expecting the spinal anesthesia to kick in?’ They had already been doing a lot of work and I had been completely oblivious to that fact,” he said.

The procedure allowed Nicholas to be discharged just 24 hours later, significantly shorter than the typical two to three days post-transplant hospital stay.

The operation took place last month with the patient, John Nicholas, out of the hospital in 24 hours.

Nicholas was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease at 16, which later led to kidney issues. Although he managed on medication and avoided dialysis, his kidney function declined in 2022, necessitating a transplant. Originally, his mother planned to donate her kidney, but she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Instead, his friend Pat Wise, 29, from Indiana, stepped up to donate.

“We always called ourselves ‘ride or die’ friends, and this example shows that we have each other’s backs,” Nicholas said. “It meant the world to me. It’s truly been life-changing.”

Following this success, Northwestern Medicine plans to start a new program allowing patients to remain awake during kidney surgeries. “It really opens up a whole new door and is another tool in our tool belt for the field of transplantation,” Nadig said.