FAQs
Why Choose Rainbow Children’s Hospital for pediatric Gastro & Liver diseases?
Rainbow Children’s Hospital has a highly qualified and highly experienced team of the best pediatric gastroenterologists and pediatric hepatologists who have decades of experience in successfully treating problems of the liver, stomach, and intestine in children. Further, the Pediatric Liver Transplant program at Rainbow Children’s Hospital has performed over 200 transplants with survival outcomes of over 90% in patients. Rainbow Children’s Hospital offers the best treatments for pediatric gastroenterology at its healthcare units in the cities of Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Vizag, and Vijayawada.
In Which centers Rainbow has pediatric Gastro & Liver diseases?
Rainbow Children’s Hospital has a highly qualified and highly experienced team of some of the best pediatric gastroenterologists and pediatric hepatologists who have decades of experience in successfully treating problems of the liver, stomach and intestine in children. Rainbow Children’s Hospital has the highest level of treatment and care for pediatric gastro, and pediatric liver diseases. It offers the best treatments at its healthcare units in the cities of Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Vizag and Vijayawada.
What can I expect in my child’s gastrointestinal evaluation?
Your first to second visits to the pediatric gastroenterologist will include the initial gastrointestinal evaluation. In the first meeting, the parent and the child will have to answer questions. After this, a physical exam will be set up. This can include blood tests, X-rays or other tests.
During these initial visits, a dietitian can be consulted as well. In the second visit, the doctor will discuss the results of the test and tell you about your child’s condition. In some cases, further testing can be required. Depending on your child’s conditions, regular follow-up visits will be sent up.
Is there any evaluation required for determining if my child is a candidate for a liver transplant?
Before you can apply for liver transplantation, there are a number of multidisciplinary pretransplant evaluations that your child will have to go through. This is done for determining the liver disease’s current status and to what extent it is progressing. All the medical records, liver biopsy materials, and radiological studies will be reviewed. You will have to get consultations from the surgeon, child development surgeon, transplant hepatologist, and social worker. The assessment can include the following:
Consultation from surgical, medical, and support staff
Transplant surgeon
Transplant coordinator
Hepatologist
Nutritionist
Blood tests
Liver panel
Chemistry panel
Coagulation studies
Blood typing & antibody screen
Hematology group
Epstein-Barr virus
Infectious diseases like HIV, cytomegalovirus, and hepatitis serologies
Imaging and other tests
Liver biopsy
Liver ultrasound
Developmental and psychosocial evaluations
Child development expert
Social worker
What is the postoperative care for a child with a transplanted liver?
Depending on the condition of the child, the length of stay at the hospital can vary. A typical stay for a child is 7 to 10 days. Infants might have to stay in the hospital after the transplant procedure for 2 to 3 weeks.
To prevent rejection of the transplanted liver, your child will be given immunosuppressive drugs. A liver biopsy might be performed to look for any rejection signs. Adding or increasing immunosuppressive drugs can be used for managing the rejection. Because of these drugs, your child will be exposed to viral and bacterial diseases. Therefore, it is important that your child is monitored for any signs and symptoms of infection.
The doctors and nurses will also keep checking for any potential postoperative complications like bleeding. In some cases, the pediatric patient will be taken back to the operating room for evaluating and treating the postoperative complication.
What will happen when my child leaves the hospital after liver transplant surgery?
After your child has been discharged from the hospital, you still will have to visit the medical center twice a week for physical examinations and laboratory work. As your child’s health recovers, there will be fewer visits.
Are there any risks of liver transplant surgery?
Like any other surgery, liver transplant surgery has risks as well. Here are the complications associated with liver transplant surgery:
Bleeding
Blood clotting problems
Malfunction of the new liver
Respiratory problems
Infection
Rejection (the donor’s liver is rejected by the immune system of the body.
It is important to know that most of the above-mentioned complications are treatable.
What is the survival rate for liver transplants?
Survival rates differ from one medical center to another across the world. However, a study showed that for almost 80 percent of the children with liver transplantation surgery, a 20-year survival period can be expected.
what changes does a child go through after the liver transplant surgery?
There are a couple of things that you can help your child with:
Avoiding exposure to people with an infection
Staying on prescribed medication
Eating a balanced diet.
Following this will allow your child to attend school and participate in all age-appropriate activities, and have a normal life.
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