20-yr-old undergoes successful kidney transplant in Tripura's medical college

Agartala, July 9: In a significant milestone, doctors have successfully transplanted a kidney on a 20-year-old man at the Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital in Tripura. After the six-and-a-half-hour surgery at the hospital, Medical Superintendent Sankar Chakraborty said that a team of doctors had successfully transplanted a kidney from Munna Saha Sutradhar to her son, Subham Sutradhar.

"We recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Manipur's Shija hospital. With their mentorship, the kidney transplantation was done successfully," the Medical Superintendent told the media.

Chief Minister Manik Saha, who himself is an oral and maxillo-facial surgeon and served in a key position at the Tripura Medical College, and B.R. Ambedkar Memorial Teaching Hospital, another society run medical college in Agartala, personally supervised the MoU related and other processes to transplant the kidney.

Chakraborty said that there are many legal aspects related to such a surgery and transplantation. "We completed all required procedures step-by-step. The most important thing is that it has to be done under someone's or some hospital's mentorship. So, we started looking for a mentor in the northeast region and selected Shija Hospitals and Research Institute in Manipur. They agreed to help us on technical grounds," he added.

He said that the patient and his parents met Chief Minister Saha during "Mukhyamantri Samipesu" (Chief Minister's weekly meeting with the public) a few weeks ago, after which the doctors were asked to adopt required steps. Gulliver Potsangbam, a nephrologist from Shija Hospitals in Imphal, who led the 13 member surgical team, said that the hospital had completed 114 kidney transplants till now.

Appreciating the doctors' feat, Chief Minister Saha said in a post on X: "Today's achievement will be marked as a milestone in the state's medical services. It's something that seemed impossible just a few days ago."

"As a result of the state government's continuous efforts to improve healthcare services, today, a critical surgery like a kidney transplant has become possible in the state. I extend my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to the medical team and other health staff involved in this surgery. I also wish for the speedy recovery of both the kidney donor and recipient," the Chief Minister added.