Transplantation

KU Medical Center has performed over 750 transplants since the program started in 1990. Our one-year survival is 95%, ranking us as one of the best programs in the nation. Last year we performed 91 liver transplants, ranking us as the 17th largest program in the U.S. We continue to do research and outcomes assessments to better refine and improve the survival and health of these complex patients. Median intraoperative transfusion needs for 2011 were 2.0 banked RBC's per case. More than 35% of patients receive no banked blood during surgery. We use red blood cell scavenging to supply 50% of our blood needs for the operation. Over 40% of transplant patients are extubated in the operating room at the end of the procedure and require no ventilatory assistance post-operatively. Members of the transplant anesthesia team presented research on thromboelastography and fibrinolysis at the 2011 International Liver Transplant Society meeting in San Francisco.