Overtime, the liver can get damaged due to a number of conditions. Since it plays so many crucial functions in our body, it is important to ensure that it is in good health. In case it gets damaged beyond repair, liver treatment becomes imperative.
For treating liver failures, a liver transplant is the best treatment option for people when other treatment methods fail to cure it. It is also used when the patient has liver cancer. There is no specific time period over which liver failure occurs. It can happen quickly, within a few weeks, which is known as acute liver failure and occurs mainly because of medication-induced liver injury.
Liver transplant is a complicated process that may be used to treat acute liver failure. However, such treatment methods are more specifically designed to tackle chronic liver failures. This type of liver failure occurs slowly over a long period of time, from a few months to years.
There can be various reasons that may lead to chronic liver failure. One of the most common causes of chronic liver failure is scarring of the liver or cirrhosis. This is a process where the scar tissue replaces normal liver tissue and hinders the normal functioning of the liver. Most of the liver transplants are done to deal with cirrhosis.
The major causes that lead to cirrhosis and ultimately liver failure are:
•Hepatitis B and C.
•Liver diseases due to excessive consumption of alcohol.
•Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
•Liver diseases like hemochromatosis and Wilson’s disease that are genetic.
•When the bile ducts (tubes that carry bile away from the liver) like primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis and biliary atresia get affected. Mostly, children suffer from Biliary atresia.
When a person suffers from liver cancer, liver transplant helps to deal with the situation.
Complications that may arise during the procedure
Liver transplant surgeries come with a lot of complications. It is a complicated procedure as there is a huge chance of rejection of the donor’s liver after the transplant.
What are the various risks associated with the procedure?
•Bile duct complications
•Bleeding
•Blood clots
•Failure of a donated liver
•Infection
•Rejection of the donated liver
•Mental confusion or seizures
In many cases, long-term complications may arise like liver disease in the transplanted liver.
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