If you are a patient with liver disease and need a liver transplant, you must have so many questions, including which hospital is most qualified to manage your liver transplant. At Georgetown University Hospital, our liver transplant surgeons are some of the foremost specialists in the world. These transplant surgeons have collectively performed more than 1,500 transplants during their careers, and since 1999, Georgetown has performed more liver transplants than any other center in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
Further, our surgeons have pioneered new techniques in liver transplantation, including split-liver transplants, where one liver is divided and transplanted in to two recipients. We also offer living donor liver transplants. Learn more about Who We Are.
What can I expect during a liver transplant?
- Evaluation: Patients undergo a series of tests to determine if they are a candidate for liver transplantation.
- Donor: The transplant program coordinates with the local and national transplant lists to find a donor organ. Organ allocation is based on medical urgency, time on the waiting list and blood type compatibility. Living donors also must undergo evaluation, and must have compatible blood types.
- Surgery: The transplant surgeon removes the donor organ (or portion of healthy liver for a living donor), removes the recipient’s damaged liver and then attaches the donor liver.
- Recovery: Most liver recipients spend several weeks in the hospital; living liver donors spend about one week in the hospital. Doctors monitor liver recipients closely for signs of organ rejection, infection or other complications.
Caring for liver transplant patients
We truly believe that part of why our success rates are so high is because of the time and attention we take to answer all of our patients’ questions. Our goal is to provide you with all the information you need to undergo a healthy liver transplantation process. Our program is based on the patient’s physical, emotional and spiritual needs and welcomes the active participation of family members throughout the transplant process.
We invite you to learn more about our program, including:
- Who we are: About our program and our history of innovations
- Becoming a patient: including pre-transplant evaluation
- Managing your condition: caring for yourself while waiting for your transplant
- Preparing for transplantation: preparing for surgery
- The healing process: after surgery
- Keeping your organ healthy: managing your new, healthy organ for life
Read our liver transplant FAQs including:
- How long is the wait for a liver transplant?
- What is living donor liver transplantation?
- What can I expect during a liver transplant?
