Liver and Intestinal Transplant Programs

The Transplant Program at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital is one of the hospital's six centers of excellence and the largest volume pediatric solid organ transplant programs in the US with the best outcomes. The liver and intestinal components of this program are jointly overseen by the Division of Gastroenterology and the Department of Surgery. To date, more than 600 children have undergone liver or intestinal transplantation. Multi-organ transplants are performed each year including heart, liver, kidney, intestine, and/or lungs.  Our transplant outreach program at 12 children’s hospitals in Northern California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, and Hawaii provide better outcomes with improved care pre- and post-transplant at these sites, and as a result the transplants are performed at LPCH.  Advances in surgical techniques and immunosuppressive drugs achieved by researchers at the School of Medicine helped transform this once experimental procedure into a viable, life-saving therapy.  Both programs bring together a multi-disciplinary team, including a pediatrician, nutritionist, transplant surgeon, child-development specialist and social worker, to evaluate and stabilize each child during the wait for an appropriate donor. In some cases, these teams have obviated the need for surgery altogether, successfully rehabilitating a child’s liver or intestinal function with new therapies. There are education programs for medical students, residents, fellows, and referring physicians that the Division provides at all sites.