Live Donor Kidney Transplants: Psychological Aspects of the Donor-Receiver Relationship

A live donor kidney transplant is a therapeutic option for treating chronic kidney diseases widely used in several countries, frequently due to the scarcity of donors who have died. As is the case in non-living donor kidney transplants, the patient who is submitted to this type of surgery has already undergone a long period of chronic illness and dialytic treatment, which causes both physical and emotional damage. Thus, the suffering produced by the irreversible chronic illness associated with the anguish of waiting for a donor for the transplant affects not only the patient, but also his or her family and all those involved.