Even a low-quality kidney transplant better for patients than dialysis

New research has shown that when it comes to getting a kidney transplant any kidney, even one considered “low-quality”, is better than remaining on dialysis, both from a medical and a cost-benefit point of view.

Across the world, up to 100,000 kidneys are transplanted every year, with 704 transplanted in Australia in 2019.

All transplants have to be donor-matched to prevent potential rejection, but the kidneys are also graded on a scale depending on a number of factors including how old the donor was and what their health was like when they died.

This means that patients and doctors must have…