On May 4, 2025, a team of surgeons from UCLA Health and Keck Medicine of USC successfully performed the world’s first human bladder transplant. The groundbreaking procedure, conducted at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, was led by Dr. Nima Nassiri and Dr. Inderbir Gill, who had been developing this surgical technique for more than four years.

The patient, 41-year-old Oscar Larrainzar, had lost most of his bladder due to a tumor and had also undergone kidney removal because of renal cancer, which forced him to rely on dialysis for seven years. During the eight-hour operation, the surgeons transplanted both a kidney and a bladder from a deceased donor, successfully connecting the organs. The results were immediate: the new kidney began producing urine, which was effectively drained into the transplanted bladder, eliminating the need for dialysis.

Traditionally, patients with nonfunctional bladders undergo procedures using segments of the intestine to construct a urinary reservoir. These surgeries often come with significant risks, including infections and digestive complications. The bladder transplant presents a more physiological alternative, potentially avoiding many of these adverse effects.

Although the procedure is highly promising, there are still uncertainties about the long-term function of the transplanted bladder and the need for ongoing immunosuppression to prevent organ rejection. However, Larrainzar’s recovery has remained stable so far.

This transplant was conducted as part of a clinical trial at UCLA, and the surgical team hopes to perform more of these procedures in the future for carefully selected patients with severe bladder dysfunction.

The success of this surgery marks a major advancement in transplant medicine and offers renewed hope to individuals suffering from debilitating bladder conditions.

Fuentes: The Independent,The Sun, hscnews.usc.edu,New York Post, UCLA Health, The Guardian,