Health News – The Vanderbilt Liver Transplant team performed three liver transplants in 12 hours after two additional donor livers became available during an operation already underway. The work began at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 28. At about 9 p.m., Tennessee Donor Services called to offer the organs after another transplant center declined them.
Vanderbilt accepted the livers and quickly organized retrieval and surgeries. One organ was transported from a distant Tennessee hospital aboard a Vanderbilt Life Flight aircraft. The center opened a second operating room and called in additional surgeons, nurses, anesthesia providers and operating-room staff to complete the transplants.
The effort involved a broad team of clinicians and coordinators working with Tennessee Donor Services, DCI Donor Services logistics and Vanderbilt Life Flight. Liver transplants must happen quickly because the organs can only remain outside the body for a limited time…