Doctors perform kidney transplant on awake patient — on purpose

Hunter Boyce | (TNS) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

When John Nicolas went under the knife for his kidney transplant last month, the Chicago native was fully awake and aware. The 28-year-old participated in a major first for the Illinois hospital.

“Inside the operating room, it was an incredible experience being able to show a patient what their new kidney looked like before placing it inside the body,” Dr. Satish Nadig, director of the Northwestern Medicine Comprehensive Transplant Center, said in a news release.