How long will it take to recover from a liver transplant?
It can take several months to recover from a liver transplant. In this video, transplant surgeon Dr. Tomoaki Kato discusses common complications that can occur in the first three months after a liver transplant.
Transcript
For the first three months, you have a risk of complication from immunosuppression medication. Infection is the most common one.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So liver transplantation surgery recovery depends on how sick you are prior to transplant.
But suppose you are relatively in a stable condition going into liver transplant. The typical days in the hospital is between seven and 10 days.
And the wound healing time is about one month's time. One month is about a time we take all the staples
or stitches. But it's really not the real time for the recovery. The liver transplant surgery involves
the immunosuppression medication to suppress your immune system. And the immunosuppression medication is typically very high for the first three months.
So the first three months, you have a risk of complication from immunosuppression medication. Infection is the most common one.
After the three months passes, then complicated risk of rejection goes down. The immunosuppression medication level can go down.
Then between three and six months are sort of the time for the real recovery that you go back
to your daily activity. That's the time that children goes back to school, and an adult, this is the time to go back to work.
The most common complications are the infection or the rejection.
And this complication typically happens early after transplant. The first three months is the most common.
Then it goes down over time. But probably up to one year, you still have at risk of relatively high likelihood of complication.
But once the one year passes, that goes into a more stable time. [AUDIO LOGO]
liver health
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