What are the Problems with Organ Transplants?

Organ Transplant Risks: Infection & Long-Term Complications

Any surgery comes with some possible complications. Organ transplant is a miracle in the medical industry that gives a new lease of life with risk. This is a life-saving medical journey that offers hope to millions. From transplant rejection to infection and bleeding, this medical marvellous journey does not end just after surgery.

Problems with Organ Transplants

Like major surgeries, organ transplantation has some risks, including:

1. Organ Rejection : Organ rejection is the most common risk of transplanting organs. This occurs when the receiver's immune system immediately attacks the donor's organ as foreign tissue, causing a reaction and rejection.   
2. Side Effects of Immunosuppressants : Sometimes, to avoid the risk of organ rejection, doctors prescribe immunosuppressant medicines for the rest. Taking immunosuppressant medication contributes to health risks, including the likelihood of cancer, infection, and weight gain.
3. Recovery Risk : Organ transplantation recovery has complications regarding infection from anaesthesia and immunosuppressant use. This medication weakens the immune system of the organ recipient, so the body fails to fight against any infection.
4. Bleeding : Bleeding is another risk of organ transplant that is related to significant blood transfusion from blood loss during or after surgery. Blood transfusion increases the risk of infectious disease transmission from the donor's blood.
5. Donor Screening Mistake : Tissue matching and donor screening generally prefer to assess the donor's health and minimise rejections. In some rare cases, if donor screening is not done carefully, undetectable diseases can be transmitted to the recipient's body. For instance, Hepatitis B, HIV and viral infections are sometimes transmitted to organ recipients.  
6. Organ Dysfunction : Another serious risk is organ dysfunction. It can happen due to decreased blood flow, inflammation, ischemia-reperfusion injury, infections and surgical complications (e.g., anastomotic leaks).. Moreover, prolonged surgery, surgical trauma and pre-existing health conditions increase the severity of organ dysfunction.

Apart from these risks, heart failure during organ transplant is a rare and serious problem for the entire healthcare organisation, professionals and management.

Organ Transplant Rejection Symptoms

Organ rejection can happen at any time, after a few days, months or years of transplant. Be aware of the symptoms of organ transplant rejections to head to the doctor. These are below the organ transplant specifications.

• High blood pressure, fever, weight gain, low urine output and swelling for kidney transplant rejection.
• Fatigue, shortness of breathing, abdominal or leg swelling and weight gain from heart transplant rejection.
• Dark urine, Jaundice (yellow eyes and skin tone), abdominal pain and nausea for liver rejection.
• Breathing shortness, coughing, fatigue and fever for rejecting the lung's transplantation

Health Problems after Organ Transplant

It is not possible to manifest all threats before surgery, as a few health problems may occur after a successful transplant. After organ transplantation, patients may experience some life-threatening diseases. Here is the rundown:

• High cholesterol
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Uric acid in the blood
• Gastrointestinal problems
• Depression and anxiety
• Unwanted hair growth throughout the body
• Sexual problems like a low sex drive

Apart from these diseases, anaesthesia may cause some problems, including:

• Sore throat from breathing tube insertion
• Allergic reaction to sleeping medicines  
• Lung collapse and death risk

Organ rejection is the most common problem. In addition, recovery issues, bleeding, infection, organ dysfunction, and transmission of chronic health diseases are major risks for organ transplantation.