MGM Healthcare, a super-specialty hospital in Chennai, on Friday announced that their institute of liver transplant has successfully conducted innovative swap liver transplants and is the first swap procedure to be initiated in Tamil Nadu under the Chief Minister Health Insurance Scheme. The hospital conducted the successful swap liver transplants in April amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Karthik Mathivanan Liver Transplant Surgeon, MGM Healthcare said, “Swap living donor liver transplant needs robust infrastructure, precise logistics and constant manpower coordination to run four operation theatres simultaneously without any hiccups. It takes 10-12 hours for one transplant and a successful swap demands a large and well-experienced team including senior liver transplant surgeons, anesthetists, transplant critical care experts and technicians to coordinate and perform four surgeries simultaneously. These swap transplants will help us in addressing the rising organ shortage issue in the country during the pandemic.”