A liver transplant is a surgical procedure to remove a diseased liver and replace it with a healthy liver from a donor. Most liver transplant operations use livers from deceased donors, though a liver may also come from a living donor. Liver transplant is a treatment option for people who have end-stage liver failure that can't be controlled using other treatments and for some people with liver cancer. Liver failure can occur rapidly, in a matter of weeks (acute liver failure), or it can occur slowly over months and years (chronic liver failure).

Liver failure has many causes, including:

• Liver cirrhosis
• Biliary duct atresia
• Cystic fibrosis
• Early-stage liver cancer
• Hemochromatosis
• Primary biliary cirrhosis
• Primary sclerosing cholangitis
• Wilson's disease

Indications for liver transplant include:

• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• Alcohol induced cirrhosis
• Autoimmune Hepatitis
• Liver tumors
• Acute/fulminant liver failure

Complication
As with any other surgical procedure, complications may arise after liver transplantation. Liver transplant surgery carries a risk of significant complications, including:

• Bile duct complications, including bile duct leaks or shrinking of the bile ducts
• Bleeding
• Blood clots
• Failure of donated liver
• Infection
• Memory and thinking problems
• Rejection of donated liver

Bleeding
There is a small risk of bleeding from the place where the donor and recipient blood vessels were sewn together (Anastomosis site). This is minimized by monitoring clotting factors in the blood after surgery.