Challenges of continuation of live liver donor programme during COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan: outcomes and lessons learned

BackgroundCOVID-19 pandemic has globally affected healthcare including the transplantation programmes.Materials and methodsWe retrospectively studied the impact of COVID-19 on live liver donor (LLD) programme at liver transplant centre in Gambat, Pakistan. Standard operative procedures (SOPs) includ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMJ open gastroenterology 2021-10, Vol.8 (1), p.e000723
Main Authors: Dogar, Abdul Wahab, Uddin, Shams, Ghaffar, Abdul, Abbas, Syed Hasnain, Izzo, Hala, Hussain, Azhar, Ullah, Kaleem, Shoaib, Azam, Ud Din, Siraj, Ahmed, Bilal, Hamza, Muhammad Ameer, Zafar, Munaza, Qaiser, Muhammad Affan, Raza, Hamid, Baig, Muhammad Asif, Husnain, Ali, Mumtaz, Khalid
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antibodies
Comorbidity
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Developing countries
Disease transmission
Health services utilization
Hepatitis B
Hepatology
Hospitals
Infections
LDCs
live related-donor liver
liver
liver transplantation
Liver transplants
Medical imaging
Mindfulness
Pandemics
Personal protective equipment
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
Surgery
Veins & arteries
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Summary:BackgroundCOVID-19 pandemic has globally affected healthcare including the transplantation programmes.Materials and methodsWe retrospectively studied the impact of COVID-19 on live liver donor (LLD) programme at liver transplant centre in Gambat, Pakistan. Standard operative procedures (SOPs) including COVID-19 nasopharyngeal swab PCR, CT scans, personal protective equipment use, 6-feet distancing were developed for LLD and transplant team to mitigate COVID-19 exposure. We compared the complications, healthcare utilisation (hospital stay, readmission) and mortality between two LLD cohorts—before and during COVID-19 pandemic from March 2019 to December 2020.ResultsDuring study period 300 LLD surgeries were performed. There was an increase in rate of LLDs from 132 (44%) in pre-COVID to 168 (56%) during COVID-19 era. Average numbers of transplants per month performed during pre-COVID and during COVID-19 era were 10.1 and 14, respectively. No donor has developed COVID-19 infection during hospitalisation. Rate of all LLD complications (32 (21.47%) and 49 (29.16%), p=0.43), uneventful discharges (120/168 (71.4%) and 88/132 (66.6%), p
ISSN:2054-4774
2054-4774
DOI:10.1136/bmjgast-2021-000723