Doctors at Madras Medical Mission create ‘transplant bubble’ to treat patient with renal failure

40 healthcare workers isolated themselves for 7 days

In the middle of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a patient recently underwent renal transplant. She has since been discharged and is under observation through telemedicine. A 40-year-old patient, who had been on dialysis for over a year, had wanted a transplant. A teacher by training, the woman opted for the transplant despite the chances of contracting the infection. S. Saravanan, vascular and transplant surgeon and director of the Institute of Kidney Diseases, Urology and Organ Transplantation, Madras Medical Mission, decided to take up the task. He decided to create a “transplant bubble” - where the entire team of 40 healthcare workers, including transplant surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, ward boys and staff, were isolated in the hospital.