Liver is one of the most vital organs in our body which assist in processing nutrients and getting rid of unwanted toxins from our body. The liver plays a vital role in maintaining our body metabolic balance. Sadly quite a few us require a transplant due to cirrhosis or acute liver failure. Cirrhosis is a replacement of liver tissue with fibrosis and nodules. Some of them require a liver transplant due to live cancer as well. Liver cancer in some cases require extensive surgery to remove the tumor but due to conditions requires liver transplant.
Liver Transplant in most cases needs to be a family member who needs to volunteer and undergo surgery to remove part of their liver which in turn will be transplanted to the patient. Some of the things that you would need to be aware is that the blood group of the family member matches and the donor has to be between the age groups of 16 and 60 years of age. There will be other tests that are done to determine if the anatomy and size of the liver is suitable and if the liver is not fatty.
During the transplant, the donor and the patient undergo surgery together wherein the patients liver is removed and in the meanwhile, the donor's part of the liver also removed. The donor liver is flushed with a preservative solution and the bile duct and patient's blood vessels are prepared for joining the liver. The liver which is then joined with recipient's liver by corresponding the bile ducts and blood vessels.
The first liver transplants in India was done by Apollo Hospitals in New Delhi in 1998. It was performed on Sanjay Kandaswamy, who was then a two year old from Kanchipuram. The surgery was performed on 15th November 1998 and the donor was Sanjay Kandaswamy father. Since then, India has come a long way in terms of major organ surgery wherein citizens these days do not have to travel afar to get these surgeries done and with the utmost care provided to these patients both pre-op and post-op. The increased medical facilities available in India has created a pathway to creating and performing more and more break through major surgeries being performed in India.