Improving Perioperative Care for Children Receiving Solid Organ Transplantation

Pediatric liver transplantation is a very challenging surgical procedure that saves lives for children that are born or develop severe liver disease. The pediatric liver transplant program at Stanford, is one of the largest program in United States with excellent outcomes for both graft and patient survival. Similarly, L’hospital Necker Enfants malades in Paris is one of the largest centers in Europe with great outcomes.
Multidisciplinary teams from both hospitals will collaborate to further advance the care of children requiring a liver transplant due to metabolic diseases affecting the liver. Those children are at very high risk for neurologic complication due to accumulation of very toxic products as they miss different enzymes produced by the liver. In order to prevent crises, they require significant medical care. Liver transplantation provides the missing enzyme and as a consequence, the children will have more normal live. We will develop education materials for both medical providers and families, medical protocols to address common medical problems such as postoperative care in the intensive care unit, blood transfusion, pain management and immunosuppression, all very important aspects of the care that the new transplanted organ function depends on for a successful outcome.