US man gets kidney transplant while awake

Doctors in the U.S. have successfully performed kidney transplant surgery on a man who was awake throughout the whole procedure. 

On May 24, John Nicholas became the first person at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago to receive a new kidney without general anesthetic and to go home the next day. It's not the first time this approach has been used worldwide, but it's far from routine.

The 28-year-old was discharged in under 24 hours, whereas kidney transplant patients would typically remain at the hospital for several days or up to a week.

During Nicholas' surgery, doctors injected anesthetic into the fluid that surrounds the lower spinal cord. At the same time, they lightly sedated him for comfort, according to a statement. Sedation is used to make a patient relaxed and drowsy without causing them to lose consciousness. 

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The surgery took less than two hours, and Nicholas didn't feel any pain. At one point during the procedure, he even got to see his new kidney, which was donated by his best friend, Pat Wise, before it was implanted into his body. 

"That particular moment where I saw the kidney in Dr. Nadig's hands — like [it was] extremely powerful to see that," Nicholas said at a press conference Monday (June 24). Within 24 hours of the procedure, Nicholas walked out of the hospital.