In yet another milestone in organ transplantation at the government sector in Kerala, the Government Medical College, Kottayam, conducted its first liver transplant surgery on Monday.
In a surgical process lasting nearly 18 hours, a team of doctors at the hospital transplanted a part of the liver to 40-year-old Suneesh, a native of Velur in Thrissur. The organ was donated by Pravija, his wife. Hospital sources said both the donor and the receiver were recuperating after the surgery and the success of the transplant would be known on completion of the highest risk period.
The surgery, conducted by the Surgical Gastroenterology department, began at 6 a.m. on Monday and lasted till 10.30 p.m. While the first phase that lasted till 5 p.m. involved removing the required portion of the organ from the donor, it took the doctors more than five hours to transplant the same to Mr. Suneesh.
Closely observing
With chances for the body rejecting the new organ remaining high in the initial hours, doctors are closely observing the developments. According to experts, acute cellular rejection (ACR) generally occurs between five and 30 days after liver transplantation, although it can occur at a later stage as well.
Health Minister Veena George, who visited the hospital late on Monday, reviewed the progress of the surgery. The Minister also had a brief conversation with the couple through a video call on Tuesday morning.
This was for the second time that a liver transplant was being done in a government hospital in the State. A similar surgery was held a the Government Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram in May 2016.
