Nutrition for Liver Transplant: Pre & Post-Surgery Care

Liver transplantation is a major surgery that requires a lot of careful planning, both before and after the procedure. Proper nutrition can mean the difference between a successful surgery and one with complications.

Prevention

• Nutrition plays a major role before and after liver transplantation. A patient will undergo pre-transplant nutritional therapy to fight against risk of infection, debility and deconditioning, per the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).

Features

• Exact amounts of calorie and protein intakes are determined by doctors. AASLD also recommends multivitamins such as folic acid, zinc and magnesium to correct other deficiencies.

Considerations

• Nutritional support is just as important after transplantation as it is before. Many factors can affect a patient̵7;s health and nutrition, including preoperative malnutrition, stress from surgery and immunosuppressive therapy.

Returning to Normal

• Feeding tubes will be required for a period of time following surgery until oral intake is possible. Oral intake isn̵7;t possible if the patient has a nonfunctional digestive tract.

Warning

• Other nutritional complications can arise following liver transplantation. Long-term nutritional management is necessary after surgery to prevent obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia and hypertension.