Getting a Transplant

If you have been added to the national organ transplant waiting list, you have completed a very important step in the transplant journey! Make sure you work with your team to understand what you can do to be ready for the next steps, to make sure you stay active on the waiting list, and to stay healthy enough for a transplant.

Once your name is added and you are an active status on the national waiting list, you will be included in the process to match donor organ with patients who are waiting. This process is called a match run, and it takes the information on organ donors and transplant candidates and generates a list for organ offers once an organ is available. Deceased donor organs come from brain death (permanent loss of activity in the brain and brain stem) or circulatory death (heart stops beating permanently and blood circulation and breathing stop). This computer-generated process determines rank order using factors like blood type, body size, and how far an organ can be transported.

When an organ match is found for you, your transplant center will review the offer first. If your doctor feels the donor is a good option for you, your transplant center will call you and provide details on the donor organ. The sections below will share more information about these steps.

What to Expect

After you are listed, the waiting time for a transplant will depend on many factors. The questions and resources listed below are a starting point to understand what waiting time to expect. During this time on the waiting list, you will have periodic visits with the transplant center, blood tests, and other check-ups to monitor your health. Your transplant center will share information about how to stay healthy. If you are sick or your transplant center needs more information to complete a follow up, you may be moved to inactive status, and this means you cannot receive a transplant. If you have questions about your status or what is needed to stay active, your transplant canter can help.

When you receive an offer, your center may call you at any time of the day or night. Once you are given additional information on the organ you received in the match run, you will need to decide quickly if you want to accept the organ offer or remain on the waiting list. If you are unsure of what to expect or have concerns, discuss them with your doctor.

Your decision will depend on factors like potential risks associated with the donor organ, and how soon you need a transplant. If you decide to accept the organ offer, you must be able to make it to the transplant center in a timely manner. The questions below share more information about what to expect when you get an offer.

Steps in the Journey

The information about each step in the journey will depend on the organ type. Expand the section for the organ type to see more details about each step.

Heart Transplants

Survival on the Waitlist:

Because of a shortage of donor organs, not all transplant candidates survive to receive a transplant. There are actions you can take to stay healthy and increase your chances. Your care team is there to help you get the resources and support you need.

Organ Offered to Patient:

The transplant center reviews details of the donor and candidate first. The candidate will be contacted if the center feels the donor is a good match. Once you receive a heart organ offer, you must either accept or reject the organ offer. If you accept the heart organ offer, you may go in to your transplant center for surgery, followed by recovery time.

If you decide to reject the heart organ offer, your name will remain on the waiting list and the organ will be offered to another transplant candidate.

Deceased Donor Transplant:

You will go to the hospital and begin preparations for surgery. If the recovery and transportation of the donor organ and final test results are acceptable, the transplant surgery will proceed.

Kidney Transplants

Living Donor Transplant:

A living donor transplant can reduce waiting times and improve outcomes. Your transplant center will determine if a living donor is suitable for you.

Survival on the Waitlist:

Because of a shortage of donor organs, not all transplant candidates survive to receive a transplant. There are actions you can take to stay healthy and increase your chances. Your care team is there to help you get the resources and support you need.

Organ Offered to Patient:

The transplant center reviews details of the donor and candidate first. The candidate will be contacted if the center feels the donor is a good match. Once you receive a kidney organ offer, you must either accept or reject the organ offer. If you accept the kidney offer, you may go in to your transplant center for surgery, followed by recovery time.

If you decide to reject the kidney organ offer, your name will remain on the waiting list and the organ will be offered to another transplant candidate.

Deceased Donor Transplant:

You will go to the hospital and begin preparations for surgery. If the recovery and transportation of the donor organ and final test results are acceptable, the transplant surgery will proceed.

Liver Transplants

Living Donor Transplant:

A living donor transplant can reduce waiting times and improve outcomes. Your transplant center will determine if a living donor is suitable for you.

Survival on the Waitlist:

Because of a shortage of donor organs, not all transplant candidates survive to receive a transplant. There are actions you can take to stay healthy and increase your chances. Your care team is there to help you get the resources and support you need.

Organ Offered to Patient:

The transplant center reviews details of the donor and candidate first. The candidate will be contacted if the center feels the donor is a good match. Once you receive a liver organ offer, you must either accept or reject the organ offer. If you accept the liver organ offer, you may go in to your transplant center for surgery, followed by recovery time.

If you decide to reject the liver organ offer, your name will remain on the waiting list and the organ will be offered to another transplant candidate.

Deceased Donor Transplant:

You will go to the hospital and begin preparations for surgery. If the recovery and transportation of the donor organ and final test results are acceptable, the transplant surgery will proceed.

Lung Transplants

Survival on the Waitlist:

Because of a shortage of donor organs, not all transplant candidates survive to receive a transplant. There are actions you can take to stay healthy and increase your chances. Your care team is there to help you get the resources and support you need.

Organ Offered to Patient:

The transplant center reviews details of the donor and candidate first. The candidate will be contacted if the center feels the donor is a good match. Once you receive a lung organ offer, you must either accept or reject the organ offer. If you accept the lung organ offer, you may go in to your transplant center for surgery, followed by recovery time.

If you decide to reject the lung organ offer, your name will remain on the waiting list and the organ will be offered to another transplant candidate.

Deceased Donor Transplant:

You will go to the hospital and begin preparations for surgery. If the recovery and transportation of the donor organ and final test results are acceptable, the transplant surgery will proceed.

Pancreas Transplants

Survival on the Waitlist:

Because of a shortage of donor organs, not all transplant candidates survive to receive a transplant. There are actions you can take to stay healthy and increase your chances. Your care team is there to help you get the resources and support you need. Organ Offered to Patient:

The transplant center reviews details of the donor and candidate first. The candidate will be contacted if the center feels the donor is a good match. Once you receive a pancreas organ offer, you must either accept or reject the organ offer. If you accept the pancreas organ offer, you may go in to your transplant center for surgery, followed by recovery time.

If you decide to reject the pancreas organ offer, your name will remain on the waiting list and the organ will be offered to another transplant candidate.

Deceased Donor Transplant:

You will go to the hospital and begin preparations for surgery. If the recovery and transportation of the donor organ and final test results are acceptable, the transplant surgery will proceed.

Intestine Transplants

Survival on the Waitlist:

Because of a shortage of donor organs, not all transplant candidates survive to receive a transplant. There are actions you can take to stay healthy and increase your chances. Your care team is there to help you get the resources and support you need.

Organ Offered to Patient:

The transplant center reviews details of the donor and candidate first. The candidate will be contacted if the center feels the donor is a good match. Once you receive an intestine organ offer, you must either accept or reject the organ offer. If you accept the intestine organ offer, you may go in to your transplant center for surgery, followed by recovery time.

If you decide to reject the intestine organ offer, your name will remain on the waiting list and the organ will be offered to another transplant candidate.

Deceased Donor Transplant:

You will go to the hospital and begin preparations for surgery. If the recovery and transportation of the donor organ and final test results are acceptable, the transplant surgery will proceed.

Questions to Consider

Patients may not know what information is available to help guide their journey. The questions below are a place to start gathering information to discuss with your care team.

Kidney Transplants

Living Donor Transplant

For kidney transplant centers, the number of living donor transplants is shown on the center search page.

Living donor transplants usually last longer than deceased donor transplants. From the center search page, separate living and deceased donor outcomes are shown on the center "Full Report". You can compare national and regional outcomes for living and deceased donor transplant on the in an interactive report. Coming soon: watch for a new long-term outcomes calculator.

Some centers participate in programs, such as donor exchanges or chains, that help candidates match with a living donor. SRTR does not have a public list of centers that participate in available programs; however, centers may offer information if you contact them directly.

Survival on the Waitlist

Make sure you go to all doctor appointments, take all medications as prescribed, and follow diet and exercise guidelines from your care team, and stay involved in healthy activities, including spending time with family and friends. You can find more information to help stay healthy [here].

Waiting times for a kidney transplant depend on many factors, including blood type, geographic region, antibodies that may limit donor matches, and what kidney offers the center and patient are willing to accept. Average waiting times are several years or more, but average times will not apply to all candidates. You can use the center search page to find some information on waiting times from the "Full Report" link of each transplant center. This is shown as a percentage of candidates who are transplanted after different time points up to 3 years. National data showing how many candidates are transplanted at different times up to 10 years are in an interactive report. Coming soon: watch for a new personalized waiting time calculator.

While there is no definite time frame for kidney transplant wait times, patients can consider several options that may reduce waiting time. First, the center search page lists "Getting a Transplant Faster" as one way to compare transplant centers based on the rate of performing transplants. A higher rate may result in a shorter waiting time. Second, patients have a choice about some donor types they would consider. Patients willing to consider a larger donor pool may have a shorter wait. Third, kidney patients can seek help to navigate the search for a living donor. Fourth, listing at multiple centers may increase your donor pool and shorten waiting times. Coming soon: watch for a new organ offer decision aid and a personalized waiting time calculator.

A summary of the number of candidates added and removed from the kidney waitlist for each center is show on the center "Full Report", available from the center search page. A personalized waitlist outcomes calculator is included in the kidney transplant decision aid shows outcomes for patients with your characteristics. Regional and naitonal waitlist survival information is available for specific patient characteristics in an interactive report.

Organ Offered to Patient

By the time a patient is called, the center has already reviewed the donor history and test results and decided to share the offer with the patient. The center will call the patient, potentially any time during the day or night. The center will describe some details about the donor, including potential risks, and you can make a decision whether or not to move forward. Coming soon: Learn more about the process in the kidney organ offer decision aid.

Some centers may have options that could expand the donor pool for deceased donors. These may include options for blood type B patients to match with blood type A; options to treat patients with medication if they accept a Hepatitis B or C positive donor organ; or methods to use mechanical pumps to keep deceased donor organs viable for longer periods of time before a transplant. All centers will discuss your options to consider high KDPI kidneys. Information on some of these programs is summized on a personalized search tool.

In addition, some centers provide options to expand access to living donation. Search for centers that perform living donor transplants here. Coming soon: Learn more about kidney donor types in the kidney organ offer decision aid.

Kidney transplant candidates may be matched with a range of donor types, including high Kidney Donor Profile Index (KDPI), risk criteria, donation after circulatory death (DCD), and others. Coming soon: Learn more about the donor types at the kidney organ offer decision aid. For many patients, outcomes will be better after accepting an offer compared to declining an offer.

For many patients, outcomes will be better after accepting an offer compared to declining an offer. This is because the risk from more time on dialysis is often greater than risks from a donor. You can discuss the right option for you with your team. Coming soon: watch for new tools about personalized risks and benefits of different donor types.

Unfortunately, it does not. Even if you are contacted with the news of a compatible organ and arrive at the transplant center on time, your care team may discover an issue with your health or with the donor organ and may decide not to proceed with surgery. When you are called with an offer you might be the primary candidate or a backup. At the hospital, you will have an exam to make sure you are medically eligible to proceed with surgery. If you are the primary, there is a chance a last minute problem could be found during your exam or the donor organ cannot be used. If you are the backup, the donor organ will first be considered for the primary candidate, and may be offered to you if the primary is not available or eligible.

Deceased Donor Transplant

Patients will arrive at the hospital and will have a medical evaluation to confirm there are no recent health changes. When the surgery proceeds, the patient will have general anesthesia and will not be awake. The surgery will take at least several hours.

The total number of kidney transplants performed at a center is available on the center "Full Report" from the center search page.

The total number of kidney transplants performed at a center for recipients with specific characteristics (e.g. age, gender, race) is available on the center "Full Report" from the center search page. This information is summarized in a personalized search tool. Coming soon: watch for new features for a personalized transplant center search.

Kidney transplant centers may use several different anti-rejection medications. You can contact the center directly to learn more about specific medications used at the center.

Death or Too Sick

A summary of the removals from the Kidney waitlist for each center is shown on the center "Full Report" from the center search page.

Liver Transplants

Living Donor Transplant

For liver transplant centers, the number of living donor transplants is shown on the center search page.

Living donor transplants usually last longer than deceased donor transplants. From the center search page, separate living and deceased donor outcomes are shown on the center "Full Report". You can compare national and regional outcomes for living and deceased donor transplant on the in an interactive report. Coming soon: watch for a new long-term outcomes calculator.

Some centers participate in programs, such as donor exchanges or chains, that help candidates match with a living donor. SRTR does not have a public list of centers that participate in available programs; however, centers may offer information if you contact them directly.

Survival on the Waitlist

Make sure you go to all doctor appointments, take all medications as prescribed, and follow diet and exercise guidelines from your care team, and stay involved in healthy activities, including spending time with family and friends. You can find more information to help stay healthy [here].

Waiting times for a liver transplant depend on many factors, including blood type, disease severity, and geographic region. A transplant may happen within a few days for acute (sudden) liver failure. Average waiting times for chronic liver failure can be several months or several years or more depending on the severity of the disease. You can use the center search page to find some information on waiting times from the "Full Report" link of each transplant center. This is shown as a percentage of candidates who are transplanted after different time points up to 3 years. National data showing how many candidates are transplanted at different times up to 10 years are in an interactive report. Coming soon: watch for a new personalized waiting time calculator.

While there is no definite time frame for Liver transplant wait times, patients can consider several options that may reduce waiting time. First, the center search page lists "Getting a Transplant Faster" as one way to compare transplant centers based on the rate of performing transplants. A higher rate may result in a shorter waiting time. Second, patients have a choice about some donor types they would consider. Patients willing to consider a larger donor pool may have a shorter wait. Third, liver patients can seek help to navigate the search for a living donor. Fourth, listing at multiple centers may increase your donor pool and shorten waiting times. Coming soon: watch for a new organ offer decision aid and a personalized waiting time calculator.

A summary of the number of candidates added and removed from the liver waitlist for each center is show on the center "Full Report", available from the center search page. The center search page includes "Survival on the Waitlist" as one way to compare transplant centers. A personalized liver waitlist outcomes calculator shows outcomes for patients with your characteristics. Regional and naitonal waitlist survival information is available for specific patient characteristics in an interactive report.

Organ Offered to Patient

By the time a patient is called, the center has already reviewed the donor history and test results and decided to share the offer with the patient. The center will call the patient, potentially any time during the day or night. The center will describe some details about the donor, including potential risks, and you can make a decision whether or not to move forward. Coming soon: Learn more about the process in the liver organ offer decision aid.

Some centers may have options that could expand the donor pool for deceased donors. These may include options to treat patients with medication if they accept a Hepatitis B or C positive donor organ; or methods to use mechanical pumps to keep deceased donor organs viable for longer periods of time before a transplant. Information on some of these programs is summized on a personalized search tool.

In addition, some centers provide options to expand access to living donation. Search for centers that perform living donor transplants here.

Liver transplant candidates may be matched with a range of donor types, including risk criteria, donation after circulatory death (DCD), and others. Coming soon: Learn more about the donor types at the liver organ offer decision aid. For many patients, outcomes will be better after accepting an offer compared to declining an offer.

For many patients, outcomes will be better after accepting an offer compared to declining an offer. You can discuss the right option for you with your team. Coming soon: watch for new tools about personalized risks and benefits of different donor types.

Unfortunately, it does not. Even if you are contacted with the news of a compatible organ and arrive at the transplant center on time, your care team may discover an issue with your health or with the donor organ and may decide not to proceed with surgery. When you are called with an offer you might be the primary candidate or a backup. At the hospital, you will have an exam to make sure you are medically eligible to proceed with surgery. If you are the primary, there is a chance a last minute problem could be found during your exam or the donor organ cannot be used. If you are the backup, the donor organ will first be considered for the primary candidate, and may be offered to you if the primary is not available or eligible.

Deceased Donor Transplant

Patients will arrive at the hospital and will have a medical evaluation to confirm there are no recent health changes. When the surgery proceeds, the patient will have general anesthesia and will not be awake. The surgery will take at least several hours.

The total number of liver transplants performed at a center is available on the center "Full Report" from the center search page.

The total number of liver transplants performed at a center for recipients with specific characteristics (e.g. age, gender, race) is available on the center "Full Report" from the center search page. This information is summarized in a personalized search tool. Coming soon: watch for new features for a personalized transplant center search.

Liver transplant centers may use several different anti-rejection medications. You can contact the center directly to learn more about specific medications used at the center.

Death or Too Sick

A summary of the removals from the Liver waitlist for each center is shown on the center "Full Report" from the center search page.