The second liver transplant surgery at Government Medical College Hospital, Kottayam, this one too involving a living donor, has been successful and is a significant achievement for the State’s public health sector, a press release issued by Health Minister Veena George said.
Both surgeries were possible and a success because of the significant contribution and assistance of experienced tertiary care hospitals in the private sector. In the first liver transplant, the surgical gastroenterology team at Kottayam was aided by a team from KIMSHealth, Thiruvananthapuram, while the second surgery was carried out with a team from Amritha Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi .
With the government trying to offer liver transplant surgeries at more medical colleges, the conscious decision to seek some hand-holding from the private sector has paid off and this model would be adopted for other MCHs also, officials said. The patient, who underwent the liver transplant two weeks ago, was discharged on Saturday. His sister, who had donated part of her liver for transplant, had been discharged a week earlier, the statement said.
