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Patient education: Liver transplant (The Basics)

Patient education: Liver transplant (The Basics)

What is a liver transplant? — A liver transplant is a type of surgery in which a doctor replaces a diseased liver with a healthy liver.

Why might I need a liver transplant? — You might need a liver transplant if you have severe liver disease. This is a condition in which the liver does not work the way it should. It can cause symptoms such as tiredness and swelling in the legs and belly. It can also make the skin or whites of the eyes look yellow. This is called "jaundice." People with some types of liver cancer might also need a liver transplant.

Before you have a liver transplant, your doctor will try other treatments. Your doctor will only recommend a liver transplant if no other treatments work.

What happens before I can get a liver transplant? — Before you get a liver transplant, you need to go through several steps.

Your doctor will send you to a liver transplant center (a hospital that does liver transplants). If you are very sick, you might stay in the hospital. You will have exams and blood tests and talk with different doctors. Doctors will ask you about:

Your other medical conditions and medicines you take

Your lifestyle (for example, alcohol and drug use, or smoking)

Your family and other support systems

Not everyone who goes to a liver transplant center gets a transplant. To be considered, you must meet certain conditions. For example, you must:

Have severe liver disease that has not gotten better with other treatments

Not have serious heart and lung disease, such as COPD

Not have certain forms of cancer now or in the last 5 years

Not use alcohol or drugs

Be willing to take medicines for the rest of your life after surgery

If you meet all pf these conditions, you will be put on a waiting list for a new liver. An organization called "UNOS" keeps track of everyone on the list. UNOS tries to give livers to the sickest people first. Your doctors will let UNOS know if your liver disease gets worse.

A few people get a liver transplant from a friend or family member who gives part of their liver. For example, a parent might give part of a liver to a child. But most people get a new liver from UNOS.

What happens when a liver becomes available? — When a liver becomes available, UNOS chooses the person who is the best match for it. People who are waiting for a liver need to carry a cell phone or pager at all times so that they can be reached quickly.

When you get called for your liver transplant, you will need to get to the hospital quickly.

What happens after a liver transplant? — After surgery, most people stay in the hospital for a few weeks before going home. Your doctors will do tests regularly to make sure that your new liver is working correctly.

After a liver transplant, people need to take medicines for the rest of their life. These medicines are called "anti-rejection medicines." They help the body's infection-fighting system accept the new liver. Normally, the infection-fighting system helps people stay healthy by attacking objects in the body that came in from the outside ("foreign objects"). Anti-rejection medicines help keep the body from attacking the new liver.

What problems can people have after a liver transplant? — Some people do well after surgery. They can go to work and be active. But other people have problems right after the surgery or a few years later. These problems can include:

Rejection of the new liver – Even though people take anti-rejection medicines, their body might still reject and attack the new liver.

Liver disease that comes back – Some liver diseases can come back after a transplant, though not all do.

Side effects from the anti-rejection medicines – These medicines have short-term side effects. For example, they increase a person's chance of getting infections. They also have long-term side effects. For example, they can increase the chance of certain types of cancer.

More on this topic

Patient education: Cirrhosis (The Basics)
Patient education: Hepatitis B (The Basics)
Patient education: Hepatitis C (The Basics)
Patient education: Liver cancer (The Basics)
Patient education: Primary biliary cholangitis (primary biliary cirrhosis) (The Basics)
Patient education: Coping with high drug prices (The Basics)

Patient education: Cirrhosis (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Hepatitis B (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Hepatitis C (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Coping with high prescription drug prices in the United States (Beyond the Basics)

This topic retrieved from UpToDate on: Feb 02, 2024.
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