Read on to this blog to learn about liver transplants in India. Have a look!

Let’s first understand what a liver transplant is.

What is a liver transplant?

A liver transplant is a surgical operation that replaces the diseased liver of a patient with the healthy liver of another person. In the case of living donation, only a partially healthy liver of the donor is used for transplantation. While in the case of deceased donation the totally or partially healthy liver is used for the liver transplant. A liver transplant is a viable therapeutic option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure. The liver is the second major organ that is commonly transplanted, after the kidney.

It is estimated that every year, on average, around 50,000–60,000 patients require a liver transplant in India. Unfortunately, not everyone is lucky enough to avail of this transplant facility due to its high cost, lack of awareness, and unavailability of a liver donor.

Most donated livers come from deceased donors. They come from registered organ donors or from people whose family members give consent for donation. Less frequently, liver transplants involve a living donor, often a friend, family member, or stranger whose tissue matches with the recipient, and they donate a segment of their liver.

Generally, surgeons only perform a liver transplant when all other treatment options have been closed. Nevertheless, liver transplants are the second most common type of transplant after kidney transplants.

For someone undergoing "liver transplantation," the following sequence of events takes place in an operating room:

• An incision is a cut or mark made after surgery.
• Testing or evaluation of the abdomen to check for abnormalities in the liver.
• Anatomization of the liver's attachments to the abdominal cavity,
• Isolation of significant structures like the vena cava, common bile duct, portal vein, and the hepatic artery.
• Transection and removal of the damaged or diseased liver.
• Patching or sewing the new liver with the other organs of the body.
• Controlling bleeding from the body.
• Cessation of the incision.

The expense of liver transplant surgery may vary according to the following factors:

• Patient’s age
• The Health of the Patient
• The organ's condition
• Type of surgery

A liver transplant is a major surgery that comes with several risks and potential complications, ranging in severity and including:

• Scarring
• Death
• Blood clots in the hepatic artery that supplies blood to the liver
• Organ rejection, where the body does not accept the donor liver (most common during the first 3 to 6 months after surgery)
• Bleeding
• Bacterial infection
• Failure of the donor's liver
• Bile duct leakage or damage
• Hernia
• Lung failure
• Rupturing of the cuts made in surgery during healing
• Multiple organ failures
• Sepsis

Each year in India, only approximately 2000 patients are lucky enough to undergo liver transplant surgery. As a result, the mortality ratio is high in India in comparison to developed countries. But still, for patients who are seeking low-cost liver or organ transplant surgery, India is among the most preferred destinations. The cost of liver transplant surgery in India is much less than or typically a fraction of the cost of the same surgery and care in the US and other developed countries.

Final Words

In India, a large number of patients need the donated organs of another person to continue their lives. The requirement for organ transplantation can only be fulfilled by the process of "organ donation”. But still, the rate of organ donors in our country is very low in comparison to organ recipients. Be the real hero of your nation and contribute to society by taking a pledge to donate your precious organs to someone who seriously needs them.