Transplant Surgery
Objectives
The Transplant Surgery Section aims to:
- participate in workforce assessments to ensure the workforce for Transplant Surgery in Australia and New Zealand is adequate;
- promote professional and community awareness and acceptance of organ and tissue donation for transplantation, and
- promote research in the basic and clinical sciences related to transplantation.
Activities
Scientific and education programs are run each year at the Annual Scientific Congress (ASC).
Transplant webinar series 2022
In 2022, the transplant section will be putting on a series of webinars that will address clinical surgical scenarios in transplantation. They aim to increase visibility of transplant groups and the nature of work that they do. The monthly seminars will be on a Monday night, from 7pm to 8pm AEST.
Past Seminars
Monday, 7th November 2022: RACS Transplant Section Presents: Dual Kidney Transplantation – Too good or double trouble? Chaired by Dr Thomas Hanna.
Extended criteria donors are becoming more common. Dual kidney transplant (DKT) is one tool to expand the donor pool, utilizing organs which might otherwise have been discarded. However, evidence of outcomes is scarce and there is no consensus on DKT allocation.
We present our unit experience of DKT, comparing outcomes with a matched cohort of single kidney transplant (SKT) patients. This seminar is presented by Charlotte Hitchins, Transplant Fellow at Auckland City Hospital. The session will be chaired by Thomas Hanna, Consultant Transplant Surgeon.
Monday, 3rd October 2022: Effect of perioperative blood transfusions on kidney transplant, Dr Nauman Ahmed and Dr Konrad Feng
Blood transfusions during and after kidney transplantation is a contentious topic. Whilst blood transfusions can cause immune reactions contributing to risk of rejection and sensitization, they may be need as lifesaving procedure. The 21st century has seen improvement in immunosuppression and our understanding of blood transfusions. Given that 40-60% of kidney transplant recipients require post-operative blood transfusions, it is pertinent to know whether there are any consequences for graft survival and patient outcomes. This seminar is co-presented by Dr Nauman Ahmed/Dr Konrad Feng (MD students) and co-chaired by Prof Henry Pleass/Dr Animesh Singla.
Monday 5th September 2022: Caesarian sections in transplant patients, Dr Calvin Peng.
With restoration of fertility after kidney transplants, more female recipients are successfully completing pregnancies. We report a case of injury to the transplant kidney during a Caesarian section to increase awareness and suggest techniques to avoid potential dangers. The session will be chaired by Dr Nancy Suh.
Monday 1st August 2022: To Transplant or Not to Transplant: Clinical Outcomes for High-KDPI Kidneys in Australia and the role of Transplant Surgeons in Decision Making, Dr Emma Tully
With the increased acceptance of older, co-morbid and DCD donors, there has been marked variability in the quality of deceased donor organs. Despite advances in machine perfusion, determining which organs should or should not be transplanted is not an 'exact science'. In this forum, we will present the clinical outcomes of transplantation with marginal (high-KDPI) kidneys in Australia, and discuss the role of donor and transplant surgeons in identifying factors which may modify the risk of a poor recipient outcome. We will conclude with a brief discussion around accessing Australia-wide databases (ANZDATA and ANZOD) for transplantation and donation research.
Monday 4th July 2022: Wound complications in renal transplantation - prevention and treatment, Dr Tariq Cachalia
The benefits of renal transplantation have been extended to a greater number of candidates in the past few decades. This included patients who are obese, have diabetes and other risk factors for wound-related complications. Wound complications impose a major burden on the patient and health care system. However, the long-term benefits of transplantation can be immense in the at-risk population. In this presentation Dr Tariq Cachalia, renal transplant fellow at RPA hospital in Sydney, will discuss how to avoid, identify and manage wound-complications in the renal transplant recipient. The session will be chaired by Dr Jerome Laurence.
Monday 6th June 2022: Liver re-transplantation – when and how to optimize organ allocation, Dr Valerie See
Overall, re-transplantation represents around 6-7% of all transplants and even higher number can be seen in different condition, like auto-immune hepatitis and PSC. It poses a major challenge from organ allocation and patient selection to surgical difficulties and recipient outcomes for surgeons, hepatologists, anesthetists and intensivists. These are usually malnourished patients with previous operations and many medical comorbidities. The role of the transplant surgeon in patient selection, organ allocation and outcomes are of utmost importance, even more nowadays with the increasing number of patients in the waiting list and the shortage of organs. Here in Dr Valeri See, our HPB and Liver Transplant Fellow will describe the Victorian Liver Transplant Unit – Austin Hospital experience with redo liver transplantation.
Monday 4th April 2022: Clinical Outcomes of Dual Organ Transplants, Dr Peter Yoon
There are challenges in work-up, surgery and peri-operative care for patients undergoing dual-organ transplants such as heart-kidney, liver-kidney and dual kidney transplants. In this review, we assess the clinical outcomes of patients who have had dual organ transplants and host a broad discussion regarding the topic.
Dr Peter Yoon, the current fellow of Transplant Unit at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, will present a 10-year retrospective review on this topic. The session will be chaired by Dr Handoo Rhee, Urological and Transplant Surgeon.
Monday 7th March 2022: Page kidney phenomenon, Dr Aasim Khan.
Percutaneous kidney graft biopsy is an invaluable tool for diagnosis of kidney pathology after transplant. “C” is one of the rare, but serious complications that can occur after the procedure. “Page kidney phenomenon” can also occur immediately after kidney transplantation. Early diagnosis and proper intervention are essential to avoid kidney graft deteriorating. Dr. Aasim Khan, a past fellow of Renal Surgery and Kidney Transplant at Austin Hospital, will present a literature review on this topic and discuss the techniques for early diagnosis and surgical management. The session will be chaired by Dr Bulang He, Chair, Transplant section committee
Monday January 31st 2022: Royal Adelaide Hospital presents: elective ureteric stenting and post-transplant ureteric complications
We will commence the series with a presentation from the Royal Adelaide Hospital transplantation unit. This unit undertakes kidney, solid organ pancreas, pancreatic islet transplants and dialysis access surgeries.The seminar will be presented by Dr Zhihong Kuah, a registrar who has been working in this unit for the last two 2 years. He will discuss evolving practices in renal transplant surgery and present the units experience with selective ureteric stenting and post-transplant ureteric complications. Dr Kuah’s 20-minute presentation will be followed by 40 minutes of discussion, chaired by Dr Santosh Olakkengil, where participants will have the chance to ask questions through an interactive clinical session and contribute their own knowledge and experiences.We encourage all with an interest in transplant surgery to come along and participate.
Resources
Membership enquiries
If you are interested in becoming a member, please forward your details to the Secretariat.
Governance
The Section is governed by a Committee as per the Sections Terms of Reference (PDF 177.86KB) reporting to the RACS Fellowship Services Committee.
Committee Chair - Dr Bulang He FRACS
Contact: Transplant@Surgeons.org
Contact
Transplant Surgery Section Secretariat
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
250-290 Spring Street
East Melbourne VIC 3002 Australia
Telephone: +61 3 9276 7407
Fax: +61 3 9276 7432
Email: transplant@surgeons.org