A 19-year-old man is recovering well after a dual transplant of liver and small intestine, performed at Ruijin Hospital on October 21.

　　The patient, surnamed Fu, is a sophomore of South China Agricultural University. Due to an acute ailment of the small intestine that struck at the beginning of this year, doctors had to surgically remove most of his small intestine, leaving only eight centimetres. The normal length of the small intestine in a healthy adult is over four metres.

　　The young man was kept alive by nutrition fed directly into his bloodstream through an intravenous drip, which caused serious damage to his liver and septic ulcers. As a result, both his liver and small intestine had to be replaced.

　　To perform China's first liver-small intestine transplant, surgeons at Ruijin Hospital adopted the most advanced technique available: transplanting the liver and small intestine together from the same donor.

　　Surgeons explained that previous surgeries in such cases had transplanted the organs one at a time. The joint transplant is riskier because of its complexity and the greater chance of organ rejection.

　　Due to the sustained efforts of the medical team, however, Fu successfully overcame a series of serious problems concerning nutrition and tissue rejection. Forty days after the transplant, Fu has fully recovered his digestive functions.

　　Clinical observation shows that both the transplanted liver and small intestine are working well. The liver function index has also gradually improved to a normal level.

　　(Star News)