Orthotopic Liver Transplant: Purpose, Procedures and Risks

OLT is done in individuals who have irreversible forms of acute and chronic liver disease.

The doctor will do the following things to the patient:

1. After the patient is placed in the supine position, the procedure is performed through endotracheal intubation (via mouth or nose, a tube is placed in the trachea/windpipe)
2. Separate the diseased liver from the surrounding structures and organs.
3. Clamp the veins and arteries to restrict the blood flow into the diseased liver.
4. Remove the diseased liver after it is detached from the blood vessels through endotracheal intubation.
5. Check the donor liver before attaching
6. Attach the donor liver to the blood vessels and the bile ducts.
7. Close the cut with stitches.

During Orthotopic Liver Transplant 

Position during the surgery: The patient will be placed in a supine (lying on the back) position with the arms spread at 90o.

Cleaning and draping: Draping and cleaning will be done to avoid infection and protect the privacy and comfort of the patient.

Before the surgery, the doctor will do the following things:

1. Explain the entire procedure to the patient
2. Ask them queries (if they have any)
3. Give the patient sedative medicine to help them relax

On the day of Orthotopic Liver Transplant

The doctor will ask the patient to sign a consent form to allow them to do the surgery.

The recovery process in the hospital:

The patient:

1. Maybe advised to stay in the hospital for more than one to two weeks. 
2. Will have a tube in the throat to breathe.
3. Will be given antibiotics.
4. Blood samples will be taken to check the new liver.
5. Will be told to move and walk around the bed.

The recovery process after hospital discharge:

1. The patient will be instructed to:
2. Keep the area dry and clean.
3. Not to drive until instructed by the doctor.
4. To take medicines that suppress their immune response forever to avoid organ rejection.

First follow-up appointment

The patient's first follow-up will be after one week of the surgery to check the recovery and remove the stitches.

Possible side effects which normally occur after Orthotopic Liver Transplant are:

1. Breathing problems
2. Side effects of anaesthesia
3. Bleeding from the surgical area
4. Heart attack 
5. Stroke

Risks/complications of the surgery:

1. Postoperative fatigue
2. Postoperative pneumonia
3. Failure of the donated liver
4. Ascites (fluid accumulation in the abdominal cavity)
5. Damage to the bile ducts causing bile duct scarring or bile leakage

Sequelae of infection:

1. Jaundice
2. Diarrhoea
3. Fever
4. Jaundice
5. Redness of liver
6. Swelling and tenderness of liver

The disease may lead to end-stage liver disease (chronic liver failure), a life-threatening and severe liver condition if the surgery is delayed.