
News Topical, Digital Desk : Two hospitals in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, have successfully carried out the first liver transplant through joint replacement, giving new life to two patients suffering from critical illness, the hospitals said on Friday. According to officials, these patients were in the last stage of liver disorder. This complex procedure was done on July 3 by joint efforts of GEM Hospital and Sri Ramakrishna Hospital of Coimbatore.
Why is liver swapped?
According to a release, “Unlike traditionally, a relative can directly donate a liver to the patient in need, in case of liver swapping, patients who do not have a suitable person in their own family can exchange liver with another family in a similar situation.” The release said that this method has increased the number of people who are willing to donate and has brought a new ray of hope to patients suffering from end-stage liver disease who either had to wait for a long time or did not have any viable treatment option.
Liver replacement surgery in 59 and 53 year olds
The doctors also termed the successful surgery as 'a historic medical achievement'. According to the release, the liver swapping surgery was performed on a 59-year-old man from Salem admitted to GEM Hospital and a 53-year-old man from Tiruppur admitted to Sri Ramakrishna Hospital. It said the wives of both the patients were willing to donate blood but their blood groups were found to be incompatible and hence the possibility of direct blood donation was ruled out. The doctors, however, found that the liver donors to each patient could be swapped and this was the only viable solution.
What did the Founder-Chairman of GEM Hospital say?
“There were several legal, ethical and logistical challenges to overcome,” said Dr C Palanivelu, founder-chairman of GEM Hospital. “We had to get special approval from the Tamil Nadu State Transplant Authority to move the organ from one hospital to another.” He added that apart from this, the hospitals had to ensure simultaneous surgeries and establish a real-time communication protocol between the two hospitals.
According to Sri Ramakrishna Hospital Managing Trustee R. Sundar, this achievement is a true testament to Tamil Nadu's medical excellence. "The highly skilled teams of doctors from GEM Hospital and Sri Ramakrishna Hospital performed this complex procedure with utmost precision and dedication," he said. Sundar said both the patients are recovering. GEM Hospital Director Dr P Praveen Raj said exchange transplants are already regulated under the Human Organ Transplantation Act, 2014, but inter-hospital coordination has set new dimensions of safety.
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