The Pros And Cons Of Liver Transplantation

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Liver transplantation, or hepatic section, is a surgical procedure performed to replace a diseased liver or some parts of it with another one taken from healthy donors.23 Liver accounts for approximately 2-3% of the total body weight of adults, and weights almost 1400-1600 grams.24 The unique characteristic that the liver acquires is the ability to regenerate itself, which gives the advantage to perform any necessary sections.24 The first human liver transplant surgery was accomplished on the first of March, 1963, by Dr. Starzl, in Denver, University of Colorado Health Science Center (UCHSC), United States.26 It was the first liver transplantation surgery in the world, performed on three-year old child with a disease called …show more content…

Liver transplantation can save patients ' lives, and to accomplish that it requires several steps, but in general, there are three main stages patients should undergo, which are finding a donor, surgery, and the consequences after …show more content…

After finding the donors, the followed step is surgery. Liver transplantation surgery requires in-hospital stay. Procedures may differ depending on the patients ' conditions. In addition, days before surgery, the supervised surgeons will ask the patients to follow several instructions, such as having a psychological and social evaluation, and taking blood tests.32 Another tests are diagnostic tests which are any kind of medical tests used to aid in the diagnosis of diseases. For instance, tests used to confirm that the patients do not have certain diseases, or tests used to classify the level of severity of diseases. Since liver transplant procedure is quite complex, three surgeons and two anesthesiologists are usually involved in the surgery, with up to four supporting nurses.33 The average of the surgery hours varies from four to eighteen hours, depending on the patients ' cases, and if any complications are occurring during surgery.33 The consequences after surgery will vary from patients to others, according to their medical history records and

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