Swaraj out of ICU, recovering well: AIIMS

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who underwent a kidney transplant three days ago, was on Tuesday shifted out of the Intensive Care Unit at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi and was recovering well.

The 64-year-old minister is likely to be discharged in another seven to 10 days, senior hospital officials said.

“The minister has been shifted out of the ICU to a private ward of the Cardio-Neuro Centre. Her post-surgery recovery is on the expected lines,” AIIMS Director Dr M C Mishra said.

He said her recovery is being closely monitored by a team of transplant surgeons, physicians (endocrinologist, nephrologist, cardiologist and pulmonologist) and anaesthesist besides critical care expert, physiotherapist and transplant specialists.

“She is likely to be discharged in another seven or 10 days,” Mishra added.

Swaraj had undergone a kidney transplant on Saturday with the organ being harvested from a living unrelated donor.

According to Mishra, the woman who donated her kidney to the minister is also in the process of being discharged.

“During transplant surgeries, the recipient is put on immunosuppressants in order to lower the body’s ability to reject a transplanted organ.

“That is the reason why the minister, after the transplant, was shifted to ICU and kept in isolation to avoid any infection,” a senior doctor at AIIMS said.

AIIMS earlier had stated that the surgery of Swaraj was successful and uneventful.

Swaraj’s nearly six-hour long surgery was performed by a team of 50 personnel led by Dr Mukut Minz, former head of the department of renal transplant surgery at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research and Dr V K Bansal from AIIMS. Minz is currently with Fortis, Mohali. A team of transplant anesthesiologists, nurses, technicians and other support staff assisted them.

On November 16, Swaraj had posted on Twitter that she was in AIIMS because of kidney failure. Swaraj, who has been in and out of the hospital for last few months, was admitted to AIIMS on November 7.

After Swaraj made public her health condition on social media, several people had offered their kidneys to her.