Next Steps

Follow-up

After liver transplantation, the patient must visit the transplant surgeon or hepatologist frequently, about 1-2 times a week over about 3 months. After this time, the primary doctor resumes follow-up care by seeing the patient about once a month for the remainder of the first year after transplantation.

Ideally, the transplant surgeon and hepatologist monitor the patient's progress through blood tests and contact with the primary doctor. One year after transplantation, follow-up care is individualized. If a patient ever requires a visit to an emergency department, and is discharged from there, he or she should generally follow up with his or her primary doctor in 1-2 days.