Liver Transplant Side Effects and Warnings

Possible Complications

If you are planning to have liver transplant, your doctor will review a list of possible complications, which may include:

• Rejection of transplanted liver
• Bleeding
• Infection
• Damage to nearby organs
• Bile-duct obstruction or bile leakage into the body
• Complications from immunosuppressive drugs
• Blood clots

Some factors that may increase the risk of complications include:

• Smoking
• Obesity
• Alcoholism
• Diabetes
• Poor nutrition
• Recent or long-term illness
• Serious heart, lung, or kidney disease
• Use of certain medicines
• Cancer
• Current infection

Be sure to discuss these risks with your doctor before the surgery.

Call Your Doctor

After you leave the hospital, contact your doctor if any of the following occurs:

• Signs of infection, including fever and chills—You are at increased risk for infection because of the immunosuppressive drugs.
• Redness, swelling, increasing pain, excessive bleeding, or discharge from the incision site
• Cough, shortness of breath, chest pain
• Severe nausea or vomiting
• Black or tarry stools, constipation, or diarrhea that does not go away after two loose stools
• You are unable to take your medicines
• Bruising
• Red or rusty-brown urine
• Any skin rash or sores in your mouth
• Vaginal discharge (in women)
• Pain, burning, urgency, frequency of urination, or persistent bleeding in the urine
• Exposure to infections, such as mumps , measles , chickenpox , or shingles
• Headache, confusion, dizziness, light-headedness, or loss of consciousness
• Unusual weakness
• Illness that requires emergency room treatment or hospitalization

In case of an emergency, CALL 911.