Prof. Hamdi Karakayalı, MD

Prof. Hamdi Karakayalı, MD is a surgeon at the Kidney Transplant Center of Acibadem Atakent Hospital in İstanbul, where he works within the Organ Transplantation unit. He has more than 38 years in medicine. His practice covers kidney and liver transplantation together with surgery of the liver, biliary tract and pancreas, endocrine surgery and the treatment of hemorrhoids and other anorectal conditions.

Dr. Karakayalı graduated from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine in 1988 and completed his General Surgery training there in 1994. He then joined Başkent University Hospital, where he worked as a Specialist Doctor from 1994 to 2011 and progressed through the academic ranks of Assistant Associate Professor (1996), Associate Professor (1996–1998) and Professor (1998–2005). At the same institution he served as Vice Chair of the Department of General Surgery from 1999 to 2010 and was responsible for liver transplantation and kidney transplantation from 2009 to 2011. Between 2011 and 2013 he headed the Organ Transplant Center and HPB Unit at Private Gaziosmanpaşa Hospital, and from 2013 to 2017 he was Director of the Organ Transplant Center and HPB Unit at Medipol Mega University Hospital. He joined Acıbadem Healthcare Services in 2017. From 2002 to 2010 he acted as Advisor to the Liver and Kidney Transplantation Scientific Committee of the Ministry of Health, and he is a member of the Kidney Transplantation and Liver Transplantation Scientific Committees of the Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Health, General Directorate of Organ Transplantation. His professional memberships include The Transplantation Society, the Turkish Transplantation Association, the Middle East Society for Organ Transplantation (MESOT), the American College of Surgeons and the European Board of Surgery.

Clinical focus

A central part of Dr. Karakayalı’s work is organ transplantation, including kidney transplantation and liver transplantation. He also evaluates and treats a range of liver and biliary tract diseases, among them fatty liver disease, liver failure and liver cancer, as well as pancreatic diseases.

His hepatopancreatobiliary practice further includes gallbladder inflammation (cholecystitis) and cancers of the gallbladder and bile ducts. In addition, he performs thyroid and other endocrine surgery and treats hemorrhoids and anorectal conditions. The choice of treatment in each case depends on the individual findings and is discussed with the patient after clinical assessment.

How Dr. Karakayalı works with international patients

Dr. Karakayalı consults in Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for patients who speak other languages. The international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, such as MRI, CT or ultrasound reports, laboratory and pathology results, operative notes and discharge summaries, and organizes appointments and the hospital visit. A first consultation typically covers the patient’s history and symptoms, a review of existing imaging and previous treatments, a clinical examination and a discussion of the available options. Video consultation is available for international patients who wish to have an initial discussion before traveling.