Liver Transplant
Liver Transplant Surgery Risks and Benefits
By; Daniel Allred
January 5,2010
7th Grade Science Core 2 Mr. Wright
Organ transplants are some of the hardest surgeries that doctors can do. They require many trained personnel, time, and complicated procedures. Liver transplants are among the most difficult organ transplants that can be done. There are also many risks involved with the surgery and patients must face all of them in order to come out with a new and working liver. According to the American Liver Foundation patients that undergo a liver transplant have a 75% chance of survival after five years. In other words, one in four patients will die in five years due to their new liver. Even for organ transplants, that is a very low chance of survival. Organ transplants tend to be very complex in nature. Since livers have so many functions they are among the hardest to transplant safely. The surgeon must first make a cut in the upper abdomen. Then they must remove the old liver by cutting it off from the blood vessels and bile ducts. The surgeon must then place the new liver into the patient’s body and connect it to the old blood vessels and bile ducts. Most operations usually take around 12 hours and since there is so much blood lost new blood must be continually added through a transfusion for the whole of the operation. There are many problems with this surgery and the first one is the act of moving the donated liver to the patient that will receive it. The liver can only stay functioning for a short period of time outside of the body. That means that as soon as a liver is taken from a donor it must be immediately transported to the recipient. This requires that many people work together as one to set up an appointment for the patient and the donor, to remove the liver from the donor, ship the donor’s liver to the recipient, put the liver into the recipient, close them up, and manage the finances of the whole operation. All of
By; Daniel Allred
January 5,2010
7th Grade Science Core 2 Mr. Wright
Organ transplants are some of the hardest surgeries that doctors can do. They require many trained personnel, time, and complicated procedures. Liver transplants are among the most difficult organ transplants that can be done. There are also many risks involved with the surgery and patients must face all of them in order to come out with a new and working liver. According to the American Liver Foundation patients that undergo a liver transplant have a 75% chance of survival after five years. In other words, one in four patients will die in five years due to their new liver. Even for organ transplants, that is a very low chance of survival. Organ transplants tend to be very complex in nature. Since livers have so many functions they are among the hardest to transplant safely. The surgeon must first make a cut in the upper abdomen. Then they must remove the old liver by cutting it off from the blood vessels and bile ducts. The surgeon must then place the new liver into the patient’s body and connect it to the old blood vessels and bile ducts. Most operations usually take around 12 hours and since there is so much blood lost new blood must be continually added through a transfusion for the whole of the operation. There are many problems with this surgery and the first one is the act of moving the donated liver to the patient that will receive it. The liver can only stay functioning for a short period of time outside of the body. That means that as soon as a liver is taken from a donor it must be immediately transported to the recipient. This requires that many people work together as one to set up an appointment for the patient and the donor, to remove the liver from the donor, ship the donor’s liver to the recipient, put the liver into the recipient, close them up, and manage the finances of the whole operation. All of
Cited: Non Print Sources- Christian Stone,MD, Liver Transplant Guide, First Published 5/27/2008, Information Retrieved 5/1/2010, http://www.righthealth.com/topic/Liver_Transplant_Risks/overview/adam20?fdid=Adamv2_003006§ion=Full_Article Doctor Certified, Liver Transplantation, First Published 2/17/2009, Information Retrieved 5/1/2010, http://www.surgery.com/procedure/liver-transplantation#Information USC Liver Transplant Program And Center For Disease, Postoperative Complications Rejection, First Published 1999, Information Retrieved 5/1/2010, http://www.surgery.usc.edu/divisions/hep/patientguide/rejection.html Print Sources- Book- By the editors of time-life books, The Medical Advisor, Time Life Books, Alexandria,Virginia, 1996. Book- Created by Knock Knock, The Complete Manual of Things That Might Kill You, Published by Knock Knock ,Venice, CA,2007.