49 patients from various regions of Bahia were treated in a kidney transplant effort | Eye on the City – Eye on the City Program news from Feira de Santana – Bahia

A hope, a chance to regain my health. The speech came from Carla de Jesus Ramos, resident of Várzea Nova and one of the patients undergoing hemodialysis treatment looking for a place on the kidney transplant queue. Carla is among the 49 patients treated in the pre-transplant effort held this Saturday, 27th, by Santa Casa de Feira de Santana.

The institution supports the Dom Pedro de Alcântara Hospital, one of the main transplant centers in Bahia. Throughout the day, patients from various regions of the state were assisted in the joint effort that enabled them to be placed on the kidney transplant queue. Most face chronic kidney disease.

Nephrologist Fernanda Albuquerque explains that the joint effort was designed to provide the best conditions for indicating the patient to the transplant queue. “They spend the whole day with us, do all the necessary exams and already undergo a medical consultation. The idea is to facilitate access and, in this way, they have faster access to the waiting list”, highlights the doctor, who is coordinator of the transplant service at Santa Casa de Feira.

Antônio da Silva de Oliveira, resident of Cansanção, has been undergoing hemodialysis treatment in the city of Euclides da Cunha for ten years. He says that the joint effort could be a new chance to get a new kidney. “Having health changes a lot in our lives,” he says. Antonio has been unable to work for years: “in addition to the dizziness, I feel very tired”, he reports.

All patients underwent laboratory tests, various ultrasounds, electrocardiogram, X-ray, echocardiogram and underwent consultation with the nephrologist, in addition to evaluation with the nurse and social worker.

“With all the tests ready, it is much easier and quicker to activate them on the kidney transplant waiting list”, argues Dr. Fernanda Albuquerque. It is a way of guaranteeing faster and more humanized access to these patients who, in general, need to travel for eight, nine or ten hours just to take the exams, explains the doctor.

A reference in kidney transplantation, Santa Casa de Feira de Santana provides assistance to patients from 18 referenced clinics – each of them located in a macro-region of the State. There are people who came from the north, from Chapada Diamantina and even from the south. “Here we receive people from more than 100 municipalities across Bahia”, says Karina Ataíde, service supervisor.

Since the service was implemented in 2015, Santa Casa de Feira de Santana has already performed 409 transplants. In 2023, there were 29 transplant surgeries.