Organ transplant is a form of surgery in which an injured, diseased, or damaged body organ is removed from a patient and replaced with a healthy organ, which has been donated (Elgert 4). This concept emerged in the 19th century and has been practiced for a long time now (about 50 years now). Majorly, several vital body organs can be transplanted.
The most common body organs being transplanted today include the heart, liver, kidney, and lungs (Elgert 4). Across the globe, more than 1 million organ transplants happen every year with the US performing more than 20,000 cases. Today, the success rates of organ transplants have been on the increase although donors are reducing drastically.
Just like any other surgery, organ transplantation has some risks and complications. Some of the most common complications include infections, excessive bleeding, and damages (Elgert 32). For instance, in kidney transplantation, the urethra may be damaged when the doctor is carrying out the surgery (NHS Organ Donor).
Because of such complications, the patient may not survival for long and hence the process is deemed not successful. The ability to reduce complications and ensure that organ transplantation happens in a success manner may increase the chances of a patient surviving; this is what is known as successful surgery.
Success rates refer to the percentage of all organ transplantation surgeries that produce favorable outcomes (Elgert 35). The success rates of organ transplant surgery have increased and improved in a big way.
However, despite of these remarkable improvements, there is also a growing demand for organs and tissues as the supply has been going down every day. Because of the growing shortage of body organ, many needy patients do not have adequate supply and as a result, there are many situations where patients are dying before they get willing donors.
Because of the improved and advanced technology, the practice of organ transplant is becoming more popular and acceptable in the society. Currently, the advancement in technology has contributed to improved ways of preserving organs and better surgical methods in the health care (Elgert 67). Notably, better and improved health care has contributed to increase in success rates of organ and tissue transplant across the world.
According to research, the success rates of organ transplant have improved in a big way. In fact, Sir Madgi Yacoub a senior researcher at a donations center describes the practice of organ transfer as “one of the greatest success stories of the latter half of the 20th century (NHS Organ Donor).
This has greatly been attributed to the advanced technology and quality patience care. The UK organ transplants statistics show that, transplants surgery have been increasing every year.
To demonstrate this facts, the newly released report on organ transplants reveal that at least 94 per cent of kidney donors are still leaving very healthy, more than 88 per cent of transplanted kidneys from people who are dead are running and functioning healthy, 86 per cent of liver transfers are still performing well, and 84 per cent of all heart transfers are still doing well too (NHS Organ Donor).
According to this report, many factors have contributed to increase in successful rates of organ transplants. One of the factors is the improved patient management, which is getting better every year (NHS Organ Donor).
Recently, the center of Scientific Registry of Transplant (SRTR) provided data concerning the success rates of patients who have received organ transplant in the US (New York Organ Donor Network, Inc).
According to (SRTR) research center, the survival of patients who have already received organ transplant is deemed as the best measure of assessing the success rates of transplant. Indeed, by focusing closely on the data provided, it is evident that the success rates have increased over the years as portrayed by the “history and success rate of organ transplantation” (Hakim and Vassilios 7).
The history of organ transfer will further prove how the success rates of organ transplantations have improved in the recent years. In the year 1999, the number of individuals who required organ transplant stood at 55, 000 people (Hakim and Vassilios 47). However, today the demand for this service has increased over the years since more people have developed trust with this practice after witnessing high level of success rates.
Because of the improved rates, many patients have been demanding for this service. According to experts, “improved survival rates and the expectation that organ replacement will enhance quality of life encouraged more doctors and their patients with organ failure to opt for transplantation” (Hakim and Vassilios 241).
According to history, the practice of organ transplant is a concept that started a few decades ago. The first successful organ transplant took place in the 1954 where a patient received a kidney transplant in the US (Hakim and Vassilios 97).
In 1967, the first case of heart transplant took place in South Africa and the heart function was effective for 18 days (Patel and Rushefsky 34). In the year 1981, a successful heart transfer showed some improvement where a patient who received a heart transfer survived for 5 years.
During 1990s, the practice of transplantation surgery became more popular and more than 2,500 heart transplants were performed in the US alone (Patel and Rushefsky 65). Along with cases of heart transfer, increased cases of other organ transplants were reported around the globe. In the year 1997, the record of success in organ transplantation went high.
For kidney transplants, a statics record of 95 per cent survival rates was recorded in a period of one year (Patel and Rushefsky, 2002). To demonstrate the increase in the survival rates of organs transfer, a study by United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) portrayed an impressive improvement from 7 per cent to 12 per cent successful rates of lung, heart, and liver transplants between the year 1992 and 1994 (Patel and Rushefsky 22).
This and many similar investigations have proved that the success rates of organ transplant vary from one transplant centre to another (Patel and Rushefsky, 42). Notably, centers that have had low success rates are those centers, which have been reported to carry out a small number of organ transplants (Patel and Rushefsky, 55).
On the other hand, transfer centers that carry out large numbers of organ transplants have been reported to produce statistical numbers showing high success rates. Over the years, this level of successful rates have increased for both low-volume and high volume transplant centers. For both centers, an increase success rate of 50 per cent has been recorded in the recent years (Patel and Rushefsky, 79).
Towards the start of this decade, major developments have taken place in the health care institutions. As such, success rates have also improved and many patients are now being refereed for these vital services (Elgert 4).
Because of the ever-growing demand, many countries around the world are also creating new organ transplant centers. However, with the increased successful rates of organ transplants, there has been reduced supply of organs (Egendorf 14). It has been reported that, the demand for donor organs has also increased, as people are not willing to donate their organs.
Among the many factors that have contributed to improved success rates of transplants is the issue of innovations. The positive technological innovation is an improvement, which has led to more patients surviving. This is precisely because with innovations, modern and better preservation methods have also developed.
As such, donated organs are preserved well therefore reducing chances of organ failure once implanted into the recipient. Another factor that has contributed to improved success rates is the improvements in surgical technique (New York Organ Donor Network, Inc). Progress in this area has also contributed to improvement in success rates of organ transfer as the operation surgeons are carryout an excellent job.
On the other hand, a continuous decline in the supply of donors has been observed for the last five years. Doctors have reported that, the reduced supply of organs from donors can have “resulted in a widening gap between the number of organs available for transplant, and the number of patients who are waiting for donor organs” (New York Organ Donor Network, Inc).
In this report, it has been noted that, the number of living donors increased a great deal between the year 1999 and 2004, but the numbers started decreasing drastically by the end of 2004 (Egendorf 51).
Despite the challenges and the issue of organ shortage, we can see light at the end of the tunnel. In providing a solution, a study has revealed that “the market place for immunosuppressive” is most likely to grow and expand for next 5 years from now (New York Organ Donor Network, Inc). This market is likely to expand because of the fact that, new transplant centers are being developed considering that survival rates have gone up significantly.
In summary, it is evidently clear that the success rates of organ transplantation have increased considerably over the years. Towards the start of this decade, major developments have taken place in the health care sector.
Among the many changes that have taken place, advanced technology has been the most fundamental change, which has contributed to increased chances of survival among the patients receiving organ transplant and therefore bringing positive outcomes.
Several governmental and non-governmental organizations have done extensive research with an aim of investigating the success rates of organ transplantation in the recent days.
According to the findings from different organizations like United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), it has been revealed that there is a general improvement in the success rates especially from the year 2000 onwards.
On the other hand, with the increase in the success rates, there is a growing demand for organ donors because there is a shortage in supply of organs in the market (Egendorf 75). However, despite this shortage, the market is anticipated to improve in the future days, as people are developing confidence due to increased survival rates.
Works Cited
Elgert, Klaus. Immunology: Understanding the Immune System. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print.
Egendorf, Laura. Organ Donation. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Print.
Hakim, Nadey and Vassilios Papalois. History of Organ and Cell Transplantation. London: Imperial College Press, 2003. Print.
New York Organ Donor Network, Inc. Donation. 2011. Web.
NHS Organ Donor. Success rates. 2011. Web.
Patel, Kant and Mark Rushefsky. Healthcare Policy in an Age of New Technologies. Carlifornia: M.E. Sharpe, 2002. Print.