Belagavi: A 56-year-old farmer from Belagavi district, who was suffering from liver disease, was saved by his 29-year-old son, who donated his liver. Specialists at KLES Hospital in Belagavi performed a highly complex and technically demanding surgery in collaboration with Aster Hospital Bengaluru. The donor’s liver transplant surgery was successful, and both the donor and recipient were discharged on Saturday.Dr Santosh Hajare, chief gastroenterologist and liver specialist at KLES Dr Prabhakar Kore Hospital, said in a press conference on Saturday that the liver transplantation surgery was performed on a farmer from Raibag taluk. His 29-year-old son came forward to donate a part of his liver to save his father’s life, who was suffering from end-stage liver failure. Post-surgery, both the donor and recipient are doing well, and the donor (son) was discharged on Saturday, the 8th day after surgery, the doctor said. This Living Donor Liver Transplantation Surgery was the first such surgery performed in the entire North Karnataka, South Maharashtra, and Goa, he said.This highly complex surgery was performed in collaboration with Dr Sonal Asthana, chief liver transplant surgeon at Aster Hospital Bengaluru, and his team, including Dr Vachan Hukkeri and Dr Rommel S, along with the in-house KLE Hospital team led by Dr Sudarshan Chaugale and Dr Kiran Urabinahatti. The prolonged surgery, which took nearly ten hours, was efficiently managed by the team of expert anaesthetists Dr Arun V, Dr Rajesh Mane, Dr Manjunath Patil, and Dr Roopa MN.Dr Prabhakar Kore, chairman of KLE Society, said after 21 successful deceased donor liver transplants, KLES Hospital has now completed the first living donor liver transplant. There are more than 35 patients waiting for liver transplant, and organ donations need to increase significantly to meet the demand, he said.
