The actual transplant operation requires a general anesthetic and usually lasts 2 to 3 hours.

The patient's own kidneys are usually left in place, and the transplant kidney is placed lower down in the abdomen. The transplant kidney has its own artery to take blood to it from the heart, a vein to take blood away from it, and a ureter to take urine to the bladder.

Once the kidney recipients recover from the transplant operation, they will begin to feel like they did before they went into kidney failure.