Mallorca hospital passes 1,600 kidney transplants

Hospital Universitario Son Espases in Mallorca has taken the Balearics past 1,600 kidney transplants this summer. The first operation was performed at Hospital Son Dureta in 1981. Son Espases has carried out 46 kidney transplants so far in 2026.

The hospital reports a one-year survival rate of more than 90%. Across the islands, at least 60 kidney transplants have been performed every year since 2007, according to the Balearic Health Ministry.

A route for patients with few matches

Son Espases has transplanted 33 patients through the PATHI programme, which is for people on the waiting list whose immune systems make a compatible donor especially hard to find.

Around 20% of people waiting for a kidney transplant in Spain are estimated to be highly immunised. Pregnancy, blood transfusions and earlier transplants can leave the body with antibodies that recognise most potential donor organs as foreign. The programme brings together immunologists, kidney specialists, urologists and the transplant co-ordination team.

Saving kidneys that might otherwise be lost

Since 2023, the urology department at Son Espases has completed eight successful autotransplants. Doctors remove the patient’s kidney by keyhole surgery, repair it and reimplant it in different conditions, using the same incision for both stages.

The minimally invasive approach is also used to recover kidneys from living donors. The Health Ministry says it puts less strain on both the donor and the organ, helping to preserve the kidney’s function before transplantation.

Topics: Health

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com