Particularly, exchange (swap) kidney transplant is a type of transplantation choice or option in which patients who have not compatible living-donor are available for donating their kidney.  

It can be possible that a living-donor who wants to donate his or her blood is the patient’s blood relative or friend, however their kidney is not compatible with the patient’s body. In this case transplantation is still possible with the help of paired kidney exchange. In the type of paired kidney exchange transplantation the pairs or compatible living-donor and recipients are introduced. It can be done in between two or more pairs of people. We have given an example below which will help you to understand in a better way. 

Kidney exchange between two people

• Donor A gives to recipient B
• Donor B gives to recipient A

Kidney exchange between three people 

• Donor A gives kidney to recipient C
• Donor B gives kidney to recipient A
• Donor C gives kidney to recipient A 

Blood types and kidney donor compatibility 

For determining whether you are eligible for kidney transplant or not some tests will be performed on you such as blood typing and tissue typing. The first test which helps your doctor to determine whether a donor’s kidney is compatible with you or not is a blood typing test. 

It will be important for the patients to have a compatible blood type with the donor’s blood so they can undergo kidney transplant surgery. Just like blood transfusion, the procedure of transplantation completely depends upon the compatibility of patient and donor blood. 

Compatibility of donors 

• Donors with blood type A are able to donate their kidneys to patients of blood type A and AB. 

• Donors with blood type B are able to donate their kidneys to patients of blood type B and AB. 

• Donors with blood type AB are able to donate their kidneys to patients of blood type AB only. 

• Donors with blood type O are able to donate their kidneys to patients of blood types A, B, AB, and O. 

Compatible of patients

• Patients with blood type A are able to get kidneys from donors of blood types A and O. 

• Patients with blood type B are able to get kidneys from donors of blood types B and O. 

• Patients with blood type AB are able to get kidneys from donors of blood types A, B, AB and O. 

• Patients with blood type O are able to get kidneys from only donors of blood types O.