Abbreviation for Kidney Transplant
The standard medical abbreviation for kidney transplant is "KT" (kidney transplantation). 1
Standardized Nomenclature
The abbreviation KT is consistently used across major medical guidelines and transplant literature to denote kidney transplantation 1. This abbreviation appears in:
- International transplant allocation policies including UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing) guidelines 1
- Combined organ transplantation protocols where it distinguishes kidney transplantation from liver transplantation (LT) 1
- Clinical research and medical records across multiple countries and healthcare systems 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Related Abbreviations in Transplant Medicine
When documenting kidney transplant cases, you may encounter these related abbreviations:
- LDKT - Living donor kidney transplant/transplantation 1
- DDKT - Deceased donor kidney transplant/transplantation 1
- CLKT - Combined liver-kidney transplantation 1
- KRT - Kidney replacement therapy (broader term that includes both dialysis and transplantation) 1
KDIGO Nomenclature Recommendations
According to the 2020 KDIGO consensus conference on kidney nomenclature, when documenting kidney transplant status in medical records, the preferred format is "CKD G1T–G5T" (CKD G1–G5 after transplantation), which specifies both the transplant status and the current kidney function stage 1. However, the abbreviation KT remains the standard shorthand for the procedure itself 1.
Terms to Avoid
KDIGO guidelines explicitly recommend avoiding outdated terms such as "ESKD" (end-stage kidney disease) or "ESRD" (end-stage renal disease) when referring to transplant recipients 1.