DMCH alumnus performs world’s first transplant of human bladder

Surgeons from Keck Medicine of University of Southern California (USC) and University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) performed the world’s first human bladder transplant on May 4.

Dr Inderbir Gill, an alumnus of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, performed the surgery with Dr Nima Nassiri of the UCLA at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre.

“This surgery is a historic moment in medicine and is a lifesaving and life-enhancing treatment option for many conditions affecting major organs. Now, the bladder can be added to the list,” said Dr Gill.

The patient who underwent the bladder transplant had been on dialysis for seven years. He had both his kidneys removed due to renal cancer and pre-existing disease.

The patient had also lost most of his bladder during a tumour removal, leaving the remainder, too, small and compromised to work.

The surgeons performed a combined kidney and bladder transplant. Dr Gurpreet Wander, Principal, DMCH, said, “This is a proud moment for the medical fraternity and especially for the DMCH.”