Vascular Thrombosis Risks of Pediatric Kidney Transplant

Kidney complications in children are usually resolved with relatively simple medical care. However, for some children, the complications associated with kidney disease may lead to your child requiring a kidney transplant. If your family is struggling with complex health conditions involving your child's kidney function, it is important to understand how the impact of the kidney disease and the implications associated with kidney transplant.

Kidney transplants are life saving organ transplant procedures for children with kidney failure. While there are many risks associated with not proceeding with kidney transplant, there are also a unique set of risks associated with kidney transplant. As a parent, it is important to understand these risks, especially in terms of kidney organ transplant rejection and associated nephrology complications.

It is estimated that just over 10 percent of all kidney transplants in children result in a complication involving vascular thrombosis. This development of vascular thrombosis, after your child's kidney transplant, can lead to loss of the graft. In an effort to manage this risk, your child's nephrologist will most likely evaluate thrombophilic risk factors prior to placing your child on the kidney transplant list. The risk factors for thrombophilic outcomes may result in the additional need for treatment, pre-operatively and post-operatively, if your child is selected for a kidney transplant.

As a general rule, if your child is found to suffer from a complication involving hypercoagulation, the administration of heparin may be considered as part of the kidney transplant treatment. Usually, this course of heparin will occur for 14 days and then followed by administration of aspirin. In following this course of treatment, your child's pediatric nephrologist can better manage the issues involving vascular thrombosis which may lead to graft loss and rejection of the kidney.