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Lung Transplant Procedure, How Long Does It Take? - Dr. Bremner (VIDEO)

By Dr. Ross Bremner Expert April 23, 2009 - 11:19am
 
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Listen, as Dr. Bremner recalls how long a transplant procedure generally takes.

More Videos from Dr. Ross Bremner 23 videos in this series

Dr. Bremner:

So the operation itself takes anywhere from probably 4 to 8 hours, but the transplant process is rather more complicated. You know, once an organ becomes available, it needs to be matched to the person that is most appropriate for that organ, and then that patient has to get themselves to the hospital. The entire team has to go out and procure the organ for transplantation, and, of course, if there’s a donor that’s giving up lungs, they are also donating heart, kidneys frequently, as well as liver, so there are separate teams.

The process is very complicated and difficult to coordinate and we actually have nurse coordinators that their specific role is to try to coordinate that whole process.

So you may get a call that there’s organ available, but it may not be for 24, 48 hours before you actually go into the operating room to have the procedure. The operation itself takes, you know, somewhere between 4 and 8 hours to do.

Dr. Bremner, M.D., Ph.D.:
Ross M. Bremner, M.D., Ph.D., is surgical director of the Center for Thoracic Disease and chief of thoracic surgery at the Heart & Lung Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center. Dr. Bremner completed his medical school training in South Africa at the University of the Witwatersrand where he graduated magna cum laude and received the Harwood Nash Memorial medal for surgery. He then completed his general surgery training at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, during which time he also completed his Ph.D. Dr. Bremner then went on to complete his cardiothoracic training at USC after which he joined the faculty as assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery and director of the Hastings Thoracic Oncology Laboratory.

 
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