Pediatric Whole Liver Transplants

What is a whole liver transplant?

A whole liver transplant is what most people think about when they hear “liver transplant.” This option is available when a liver from a deceased donor is matched and offered to your child while they are on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) transplant list.

When a whole liver becomes available for your child, the transplant surgeon replaces your child’s entire liver with the entire donor liver. Whole liver transplants are technically less complicated than other transplant options and provide great outcomes for kids. However, whole liver transplants are less common in kids than adults.

Recovery after a whole liver transplant

At Children’s Colorado, the hospital stay for a liver transplant is 10 to 15 days. After going home from the hospital, your child will see a board certified pediatric transplant hepatologist twice a week until they are fully recovered.

Kids should be fully recovered within four to six weeks and can then return to normal activities. Even as they return to normal activities, your child will continue to see the transplant team several times per year to maintain ideal health.

At Children’s Colorado, our goal is to give your child a normal quality of life without limitations from an organ transplant. This means that kids can go to school, play sports and eat a normal diet.

Other liver transplant options include:

• Live-donor liver transplant
• Split liver transplant
• Cut-down or segmental liver transplant

Contact us

For more information on live-donor liver transplants, please contact the liver transplant team at 720-777-6011.

Resources

• Be inspired by our patient’s transplant stories.
• Learn more about the Liver Transplant Program at Children’s Colorado.