Pediatric Kidney Transplant Treatment and Options

The Pediatric Kidney Transplant Program brings together research and clinical care to perform kidney transplantations. Because we are a research leader in kidney disease in children, your child receives the most advanced care available. For example, transplanting adult-sized kidneys into infants and children, a technique pioneered at our hospital, has achieved the best survival outcomes of any transplanted organ in any age group, and has set the standard for transplantation success.

Children’s Dialysis Center

The majority of children who come to our hospital for kidney transplant do so while receiving dialysis. That’s why we invest in maintaining a leading-edge dialysis center at our hospital. We believe optimal dialysis is a key contributor to the excellent outcomes our kidney transplant program provides.

Whether they come from the nearby community or across the country, all children receive highly specialized nursing care and attention from a multidisciplinary team in a nurturing setting. While our dialysis team helps keep patients awaiting transplant in optimal physical condition, we lift spirits by providing as many of the comforts of home that we can: internet access, video games, movies, and space to do homework in an area overlooking the landscaped courtyard.

NephroNICU Program

Our NephroNICU Program cares for newborns and babies with complex kidney birth malformations, kidney failure that occurs after birth, and other kidney-related conditions. When conditions with kidneys are diagnosed before birth, your baby may require care from our Fetal and Pregnancy Health Program’s multidisciplinary team to improve survival and kidney outcomes before birth, along with care from our NephroNICU team after delivery. Some kidney conditions are not known before birth or can occur after delivery. Regardless of the timing of your baby’s kidney problems, our program cares for your baby in a specialized area of our NICU, where a multidisciplinary team of neonatology and kidney experts help him or her survive, grow, and live a healthy life after birth.

Transplant Readiness and Anticipatory Care (TRAC) Program

The TRAC program at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford provides specialized comprehensive care to children with stage 3-5 chronic kidney disease (CKD). The team provides patients and families with the tools to make educated decisions about their own healthcare to empower them to make well informed medical decisions, to facilitate self-care and self-efficacy, and to keep them on track for a successful kidney transplant.