Transplantology Internship at Warsaw Medical University
On November 25 – December 24, 2023, Andrii Burak, Associate Professor of L.Ya. Kovalchuk Department of Surgery No.1, Urology, Minimally Invasive Surgery and Neurosurgery of I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University, and Viktor Zaporozhets, Deputy Chief Physician for Surgical Work of Ternopil Regional Clinical Hospital, completed advanced training at the Department of General Surgery, Transplantology and Liver Surgery of the University Hospital of Warsaw Medical University (Poland). The internship took place on the basis of a bilateral agreement between the Warsaw Medical University and Ternopil National Medical University, as well as within the framework of the Erasmus+ program.
Its goal is to improve existing and acquire new practical and theoretical experience in liver transplantation.
The internship was supervised by Professor Michał Grąt who is the Head of the Department of General Surgery, Transplantology and Liver Surgery of the University Hospital of the Medical University of Warsaw, and who is the youngest professor and head of the department at the university.
The experience of liver transplantation in the department is significant, since these operations have been performed here for more than 20 years. A significant contribution to the development of the department was made by the Rector of Warsaw Medical University (2008-2016) Professor Marek Krawczyk, who also headed this unit.
Today, the department performs 200-250 liver transplants per year, which is 60% of liver transplants in Poland. According to statistics, the percentage of annual survival after liver transplantation reaches 75-80%.
The main component of the internship was work in the operating room, where they got acquainted with the stages of liver transplantation from a deceased donor – collection, hepatectomy in the recipient, direct transplantation to the recipient.
The main indications for liver transplantation are decompensated liver cirrhosis, primary and metastatic liver cancer.
Transplanted liver in the recipient. The time of reperfusion from the moment of collection from the donor during storage and transportation in conditions of hypothermia is up to 12 hours on average.
We got acquainted with the features and stages of split transplantation which is the separation of a liver taken from a deceased donor for transplantation into two recipients.
There was also an opportunity to see the features of a family transplant – from mother to child, from father to child.
Also, approximately 60-70 kidney transplants are performed at Warsaw University Hospital every year.
Preparation of a kidney taken from a donor with two renal arteries for transplantation.
A chamber with a flushing system for storage in conditions of hypothermia and transportation of a kidney (LifePort Kidney Transporter).
Another important stage of the internship, which contributed to expanding knowledge and gaining experience, was participation in morning clinical rounds and conferences, where the results of examinations of each patient were examined in detail and treatment tactics were discussed according to modern European clinical guidelines and algorithms.
Professor Tadeusz Wróblewski also eagerly shared their knowledge and experience.
Professor Waldemar Patkowski.
We express our deepest appreciation to the administration and the International Relations Department of Ternopil National Medical University for organizing the trip, to the Rector of Warsaw Medical University, Professor Zbigniew Gaciong, Head of the International Relations Department of Warsaw Medical University Lidia Przepióra–Dziewulska for the invitation and assistance in the internship.
