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Living liver donors report high satisfaction with donation process
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A recent study found that living liver donors reported high satisfaction with the donation process, and that most would donate again independent of experiencing transplantation-related complications.
“Living liver donation is one of the most selfless acts a person can perform,” Vanessa Humphreville, MD, from Case Western Reserve University Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio — formerly from the division of transplantation, department of surgery, at University of Minnesota where the study took place — said in a press release. “As transplant specialists, it is our responsibility to educate donors about all aspects of the donation process and our study contributes to that knowledge by examining long-term quality of life.”
Humphreville and colleagues evaluated long-term health-related quality of life in 127 living liver donors whose donations were performed at the University of Minnesota between 1997 and 2011 (median follow-up, 6.9 years; range, 2-16 years). They used a donor-specific survey to determine living liver donor morbidity (84.3% completion rate) and the 36-item short-form health survey to determine generic outcomes (48.8% completion rate).
Health related quality of life for donors as measured by the SF-36 was higher than that of the general U.S. population (P < .001). The researchers found that 11.2% of donors said their health was better after donation, 78.5% said it was the same as before and 10.3% said it was worse. Moreover, 30.8% said they had better self-esteem than before donation, 65.4% said it was the same and 3.7% said it was worse.
While 90.7% were currently employed, 9.3% reported they were unemployed after donation, but none felt their donation was the cause.
The most frequently reported post-donation symptom was incisional discomfort (34%), and 22.4% reported depression symptoms or clinically diagnosed depression after donating.
On a scale of one to ten, 91.6% of donors rated their satisfaction with the donation process as eight or above, and 97.2% said they would donate again independent of experiencing complications.
Early postoperative complications occurred in 42.5% of donors, with significantly more complications among right lobe vs. left lobe donations (P < .001), but 86.7% still rated their satisfaction with the donation process as eight or above.
Increased vitality (correlation, 0.44), decreased pain (correlation, 0.34) and a recipient who was living (correlation, 0.44) were independently associated with donor satisfaction.
“We found that living donors had above average quality of life compared to the general population with 97% of donors indicating they would donate again,” Srinath Chinnakotla, MD, from the division of transplantation, department of surgery at the University of Minnesota, said in the press release. “The findings show that living donation is a positive experience for donors and we must continue to share such information with potential liver donors.” – by Adam Leitenberger
Disclosures: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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