Ethical Issues in Living Donor Kidney Transplantation: An Update from a Psychosocial Perspective

Living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) currently represents the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage renal failure. LDKT is a serious event with profound psychological, interpersonal, familial, and social implications. Over the last few years, there has been an exponential growth in l...

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Published inHealthcare (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 18; p. 1832
Main Authors Martinelli, Valentina, Lumer, Estella L L, Chiappedi, Matteo, Politi, Pierluigi, Gregorini, Marilena, Rampino, Teresa, Peri, Andrea, Pietrabissa, Andrea, Fusar-Poli, Laura
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI AG 13.09.2024
MDPI
Subjects
Altruism
autonomy
Chronic illnesses
Donation of organs, tissues, etc
Donations
Ethical aspects
Ethics
Health aspects
Kidney diseases
Kidney transplants
Kidneys
living donor kidney transplantation
Organ donors
psychosocial outcomes
Quality of life
Review
Socioeconomic factors
Surgical techniques
Transplantation
Italy
autonomy
living donor kidney transplantation
ethics
psychosocial outcomes
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Summary:Living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT) currently represents the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage renal failure. LDKT is a serious event with profound psychological, interpersonal, familial, and social implications. Over the last few years, there has been an exponential growth in living donation programs involving genetically and emotionally related donors, as well as people who donate to an unrelated and unknown subject. The implementation of paired exchange programs, Samaritan donation, and preemptive transplantation raise further ethical issues, which are inextricably linked to the unique psychosocial context of both the donor and the recipient. The present narrative review aims to provide an update on the main ethical challenges related to LDKT. We conducted a comprehensive literature search in PubMed/Medline. The results of the most relevant studies were narratively synthesized from a psychosocial perspective around the four principles of biomedical ethics: autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. Finally, we discussed the potential future directions to provide an effective, patient-centered, and ethical psychosocial assessment and follow-up of living donors and recipients that underwent LDKT.
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ISSN:2227-9032
2227-9032
DOI:10.3390/healthcare12181832