Liver Transplant Program

We often need to have your child ready to go to the operating room within hours of your arrival at Children's Hospital Boston, so things will happen very quickly. It is very important to plan ahead for when this occurs.

When you receive the phone call from the transplant team to come to the hospital, be prepared to:

During the time your child is being prepared for the operating room, a surgical team is leaving to obtain the donor liver. The time of operation is planned to match the team's arrival back at Children's Hospital Boston. The liver cannot live long outside the body so it is important to remove the liver, transport it to our hospital, and then transplant within a few hours.

Your child will be in a single room in the MSICU to protect them from infection. You will need to wash your hands each time you enter the room. Visitors are limited to parents and immediate family in the early post-operative period.

Your child will also be seen by the unit's child life specialist and social worker to provide additional support and facilitate coping during the hospitalization. You will begin to learn about the medicines and care your child will need at home. Our goal is to have each family feel comfortable and confident with all aspects of care before discharge.