Italian doctors have achieved a world first by successful transplanting a kidney in the place of the spleen in a six-year-old girl.

The child had been on dialysis since birth because of a rare kidney anomaly and a malformation of her abdominal blood vessels.

The youngster, who was not named, had been unable to either urinate or drink, a statement released by the Molinette hospital in Turin said.

A six-year-old girl has become the first person in the world to have a kidney transplanted in place of her spleen (stock)

It added: 'In order to create the necessary space for the new kidney, a revolutionary and innovative technique was applied, with the removal of the spleen.

'The girl is doing very well, she resumed urinating immediately and can finally drink after six years.'

Kidneys are transplanted from a healthy donor into the body of a person who has little organ function, the NHS website states.

They are designed to filter waste products from the blood and convert them into urine.

However, if they lose they stop working then waste products can build up and this can be fatal.

Kidneys are designed to filter waste products from the blood and convert them into urine. But when they stop working it causes a build-up of toxic products and can be fatal

Dialysis is a treatment option to help remove toxic products from the blood in patients with kidney failure.

But it is known to be time-consuming, so doctors often prefer to look for a new organ in patients of a young age.

In this surgery, the doctors removed her spleen - a small organ found towards the upper left part of the abdomen.

It is considered to be an important part of the immune system, however, experts say it is possible to survive without having one.