Most donors are in the hospital for 5-10 days and experience pain and discomfort for about 4-6 weeks after surgery, particularly during the first week. A living liver transplant donor needs time to rest and recover from surgery and it is recommended that 8-10 weeks be allowed for this before returning to work.
Barring any post-operative complications, the living liver donor can expect to return to a completely normal life within 2-3 months of surgery and to remain healthy for the rest of his or her natural life. Since the procedure of living donor liver transplantation is fairly new, statistics on the long-term follow-up of donors who have undergone this surgery are not yet available.
The procedure is major surgery, so monitoring in the immediate post-operative period is very important. Ten days after surgery, a checkup is scheduled and staples are removed. There may be another check-up one month after surgery and then a final checkup at about three months during which a physical exam is conducted by a hepatologist, basic blood tests done and an ultrasound to check liver anatomy. After this, an annual physical exam by the primary care physician is recommended for all living liver donors.
Click here for our complete Living Liver Donation information package.
Click here to view Frequently Asked Questions about living liver donation.
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