Liver transplant

Alternative Names: Hepatic transplant; Transplant - liver

Liver transplant is surgery to replace a diseased liver with a healthy liver.

Description of Procedure

The donated liver may be from:

• A donor who has recently died and has not had liver injury. This type of donor is called a cadaver donor.
• Sometimes a healthy person will donate part of his or her liver to a patient. This kind of donor is called a living donor. The liver can regrow itself. Both people usually end up with fully working livers after a successful transplant.

The donor liver is transported in a cooled salt-water (saline) solution that preserves the organ for up to 8 hours. The necessary tests can then be done to match the donor with the recipient.

The diseased liver is removed from the donor through a surgical cut in the upper abdomen. It is placed into the patient who needs the liver, and attached to the blood vessels and bile ducts. The operation may take up to 12 hours. The patient will have to receive a large amount of blood through a transfusion.

Risks of Liver transplant

Risks for any anesthesia are:

• Problems breathing
• Reactions to medications

Risks for any surgery are:

• Bleeding
• Heart attack or stroke
• Infection

Liver transplant surgery and management after surgery carry major risks. There is an increased risk of infection because you must take medications that suppress the immune system to prevent transplant rejection. Signs of infection include:

• Diarrhea
• Drainage
• Fever
• Jaundice
• Redness
• Swelling
• Tenderness

Donor liver attachment	Liver transplant - series

Review Date: 5/4/2010
Reviewed By: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine; and George F. Longstreth, MD, Department of Gastroenterology, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, San Diego, California. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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