FYI-Post Liver Transplant Facts

The following stuff is posted from my sister Gloria …

The first three months following transplantation are the most difficult. Most patients remain hospitalized for 7 to 10 days after liver transplant. Afterwards, they generally recuperate at home and typically return to work or school after about 3 months

The liver regenerates to full size in about 4-6 weeks

It can take up to six months for abdominal nerves to regrow after being severed in surgery.

Possible short-term problems after transplant

• Bleeding
• Infection (bacterial or viral)
• Bile leak

Possible ling term problems after transplant

• Infection (bacterial or viral)
• Acute Rejection
• Chronic Rejection
• Biliary Stenosis
• Skin Cancer, lymphoma
• High Blood Pressure
• High Cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Osteoporosis

To help the liver survive and to prevent the patient’s own body from rejecting the new liver. A person with a new liver must take medications for the rest of his or her life. The immune system works to protect the body from invading bacteria, viruses, and foreign organisms.

Unfortunately, the body cannot determine that the newly transplanted liver serves a helpful purpose. It simply recognizes it as something foreign and tries to destroy it. In rejection, the body’s immune system attempts to destroy the newly transplanted liver. Without the intervention of immuno suppressive drugs, the patient’s body would reject the newly transplanted liver. Although the medications used to prevent rejection act specifically to prevent the new liver from being destroyed, they also have a general weakening effect on the immune system. This is why transplant patients are more likely to get certain infections. To prevent infections, the patient must also take preventive medications. There are 2 general types of rejection, as follows:

• Immediate, or acute, rejection occurs just after surgery, when the body immediately recognizes the liver as foreign and attempts to destroy it. Acute rejection occurs in about 2% of patients.
• Delayed, or chronic, rejection can occur years after surgery, when the body attacks the new liver over time and gradually reduces its function. This occurs in 2-5% of patients.