Follow up Routine

The transplant coordinator and the doctors will speak to you prior to discharge about follow-up tests and routine re-admissions for evaluation. The team follows you closely through blood tests, x-ray studies, physical examinations and clinics. In this way, rejection and infection is diagnosed and treated before you feel symptoms. Medication adjustments are ongoing and tailored specifically for you according to test results.

Blood work can be done at a lab. close to your home. The liver transplant coordinator makes arrangements with your lab that all results are called STAT, and all reports are sent to her office, where they become a permanent part of your file.

Phases of Follow-up:

Phase 1
Discharge – 3 months
Blood work is done twice weekly
Clinic Visits are every week
T-tube cholangiogram @ 2 months – removal of T-tube

Phase 2
3 months – 6 months
Blood work is done weekly
Ultrasound – if you were transplanted due to cancer
Biopsy @ 6 months

Phase 3
6 months – 1 year
Blood work is done every two weeks – alternate clinic visits are
once a month
Ultrasound
Liver Biopsy @ 1 year

Phase 4
1 – 2 years
Blood work is done once a month
Ultrasound
Biopsy @ 2 years

Phase 5
2 years – rest of your life
Blood work is done every month
Clinic visits are once every 6 months
Biopsy when necessary

Often, the ultrasound and biopsy follow-ups can be done on an out-patient basis. If further evaluation is necessary, you will be admitted to hospital. Routine admission and tests will be booked by the transplant coordinator to avoid delays in testing.

The results of the tests are used to evaluate your progress, detect rejection, infection and for research studies.