This week the Living Donation Liver Transplant team at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center performs its fifth fully laparoscopic liver donation surgery.
The surgery involves several half inch incisions on the upper abdomen for dividing the liver, and a 4-inch incision at the bikini line for extraction.
Donors have noted significantly less pain with the laparoscopic procedure compare to open surgery. On average, hospital discharge with laparoscopic donation is on the 3rd day. Patients are fully recovered in less than 3 weeks.
Currently, laparoscopic liver donation can only be offered to children. In the future, it is hoped that all liver donor surgery can be performed this way.
