Liver transplant patient education videos

Liver transplantation comes with risks, benefits, and a series of steps to get approved.

You can watch the full liver video series on YouTube.

Patient Education

Last reviewed September 2022 by Alan Reed

The goal of liver transplantation is to save your life, improve your quality of life, combat organ failure, and let you resume your normal diet and activities.

Liver transplant risks

Complications from the operation
Issues with post-transplant medication
Infection
Organ rejection

Types of liver donors

Donated livers can come from living or deceased donors. For some, living organs may be the best choice.

Living liver donors

Living donors give part of their liver to the recipient. Living donors are often friends or family but can come from anyone who is compatible. Potential donors will complete an evaluation to make sure they are healthy enough to donate.

The livers of both the donor and recipient grow back to near full size in about three months.

Medical costs for a living donor are covered by the recipient’s insurance. Other non-medical costs for the donor may be reimbursed through other programs.

Every patient should consider livers from both deceased and living donors based on their medical condition after discussion with the transplant team.