Why would a patient with kidney disease resort to kidney transplant?

Better Survival rate: When kidneys stop functioning the two options are dialysis or kidney transplant. Although home hemo dialysis, nocturnal dialysis or peritoneal dialysis have improved lives, kidney transplant is still superior when it comes to overall quality of life and long term survival.

Longer life: If a patient is in kidney failure they have few options. One is dialysis and the other is transplant. If you compare longterm outcomes of both options, on average people with transplants live longer. Also most patients state their quality of life is better after transplant than while on dialysis. Transplant does have it's own set of problems that patients must deal with however.

Quality of Life: If you have kidney failure, you can choose to do nothing and likely die. You can choose to go on dialysis that decreases your life expectancy. Also dialysis therapy impairs your ability to travel, impairs sexual function and at times makes you very tired. Or you can choose to pursue a transplant and come close to a normal life as possible.

Kidney transplant: In regards to your question, i would not use the words "resort to" when thinking about a kidney transplant (kt). While patients with a kt need to take immunosupressive agents to prevent a rejection, they have lives that are less strictly regulated than any type of dialysis, hemo or peritoneal, can give them. If you have the chance to get a kt, i would say that is the best option for you.