Thiruvananthapuram MCH successfully does liver transplant surgery

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The doctors at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital have successfully performed a liver transplant surgery on a 53-year-old male patient from Malappuram. Though the authorities claimed that it was the first such procedure done at the MCH, a patient had undergone liver transplantation in 2016, but the patient died three weeks later due to complications. In between, Kottayam MCH has performed three such transplants.

In Thursday’s surgery, the 43-year-old husband of the sister of Malappuram man’s wife donated a part of his liver. The surgery started at 7am and was completed only by 11.30pm.  The doctors have said that the patient is recuperating well.

The Malappuram native had developed nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) which saw him developing liver cirrhosis and also cancer. Currently, the patient is in the transplant ICU under observation. It will take almost two weeks for the new liver to function normally. Until then, the patient will be under close observation, the doctors said.

Health Minister Veena George conveyed her appreciation to the doctors and staff for their joint effort and also their commitment in resuming the liver transplant surgeries at Thiruvananthapuram MCH.She said the government is trying to provide liver transplant surgeries at government hospitals at a nominal cost as against the expensive treatment at private hospitals.

“Several meetings were convened and the state health department chalked out an action plan to undertake the liver transplant surgeries. Kottayam MCH has successfully performed three liver transplant surgeries. Kozhikode MCH is also getting ready to perform the procedure,” said Veena George.

A quality improvement initiative was also started in the Thiruvananthapuram MCH. The transplant team was given expert training and their progress was evaluated. As per the liver transplant action plan, the arrangements were monitored before the start of the transplant surgery. Authorities of the MCH had formulated an action plan to undertake liver transplantation. The facilities included a recipient ICU, donor ICU and an operation theatre with special focus on infection control.

The MCH had trained its staff, including doctors, nurses and attenders to deal with transplantation protocols. It had also obtained a licence for conducting transplantation. The 50-member transplant team comprises doctors and nurses belonging to the surgical gastroenterology, anaesthesia and critical care, medical gastroenterology, radiology, operation theatre team, transfusion medicine, microbiology, infectious diseases, nursing section and pathology, and the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTO) which strives to make organ donation and transplant procedures smooth. They were also assisted by OT technicians, biomedical engineers, transplant coordinators, nursing assistants, attenders and other staff.