Liver donor surgery, which involves removing a portion of the liver from a living donor, typically takes about four to six hours. This is the time required for the surgical team to carefully dissect and remove the designated portion of the liver from the donor's body.
Here's a more detailed breakdown of the process:
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Pre-operative Preparation: Before the surgery even begins, the donor undergoes thorough medical evaluations and preparations to ensure they are a suitable candidate and that the procedure is as safe as possible.
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Surgical Procedure: The surgeon makes a large incision in the donor's abdomen to access the liver. Careful dissection of the blood vessels and bile ducts connected to the section of liver to be removed is performed. The selected portion of the liver is then carefully separated and removed.
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Post-operative Care: After the liver portion is removed, the donor's abdomen is closed, and they are transferred to a recovery room for monitoring. The remaining portion of the liver will regenerate over time.
While the donor surgery takes 4-6 hours, the recipient's transplant surgery, where the donated liver portion is implanted, takes significantly longer, typically between 6 and 12 hours. Therefore, the overall transplantation process is lengthy, but the donor surgery itself is confined to the stated timeframe.
