Living Donation Procedures

Liver

Some transplant centers perform living liver transplants. If you are considering donating a part of your liver to a friend or family member, contact their transplant center. It is also important to talk to the transplant team about their experience and success rates.

In living liver donation, individuals donate a portion of the liver. This approach works because the liver has the ability to regenerate itself in both the donor and recipient after transplantation.

The size of the portion and specific part of the liver that is donated depends on the needs of the recipient. For instance:

  • If you are donating to a child, a portion or all of the left lobe is taken.
  • If you are donating to an adult of similar or lesser size, the entire left lobe is taken.
  • If you are donating to a larger adult, the right lobe is removed.

The procedure involves an incision on the side of the chest. A surgical instrument called a retractor is usually needed to spread the ribs to gain access to the donor’s liver. Because the vessels surrounding the liver may not be sufficiently large for transplantation, a portion of the a vessel in your leg may also be removed and used to connect the donated liver to the recipient.

The operation typically lasts five to eight hours, and the recovery in the hospital averages seven days.




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