Liver Transplants in Children and Teens at Children's Hospital Colorado

For those children and their families who have exhausted other approaches to the treatment of liver disease, a liver transplant may become the best and only alternative. While a transplant does not completely fix your children's medical problems, it can offer you and your family hope for a more normal, healthy life. Major advances in pediatric liver transplantation over the past several decades have produced significantly improved graft and patient survival rates. These advances include a comprehensive multidisciplinary team approach, a new liver allocation system, increased availability of organs, new operative techniques, new immunosuppression regimens, better identification and management of complications and infections, and improved post-transplant quality of life. The experts at Children's Hospital Colorado are leaders in the field of pediatric liver transplantation and will work with your child and entire family to ensure the best outcomes possible for you and your child.

The Liver Transplant Program

The Liver Transplant Program in partnership with the Pediatric Liver Center offers a unique and specialized program devoted to the care of children with liver and biliary tract diseases. Nationally recognized for organ transplantation, Children's Hospital Colorado Transplant Program, in partnership with the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine is the only provider of complete pediatric multi-specialty liver transplant services in the Rocky Mountain region. The program emphasizes excellent transplant outcome and a close working relationship with primary care providers and families. The types of liver transplants performed include; whole liver, reduced segment liver, split liver and living-related donor liver. We have performed over 130 liver transplants since 1990.

The Liver Transplant Team at Children's Hospital Colorado

Families dealing with the overwhelming nature of a chronic childhood disease need innovative care and strong integrated support. Our unique multidisciplinary team at Children's Hospital Colorado is on hand to develop pre and post-transplant treatment options for our patients. Our team includes:

• Pediatric Transplant Surgeon with a special interest in hepatobiliary surgery in children and, along with other Transplant Surgeons, performs the transplant surgery.
• Pediatric Gastoenterologists and Hepatologists specialize in the care and management of children with end-stage liver disease both preoperatively and postoperatively.
• Pediatric Anesthesiologists are pivotal during transplantation and continued advances in anesthesia contribute to improved patient and graft survival.
• Transplant Coordinators are instrumental in the management of care of these children and the education of their families before, during and after surgery.
• Social workers provides individual as well as family counseling and support.
• Nutritionists help maximize the nutritional status of the child while awaiting a transplant and during the recovery phase.
• Nurses experienced in caring for pediatric liver transplant recipients provide excellent care and help parents understand the daily management of their child in regard to medication compliance and overall well-being.