Liver Repair

    My healthy 16 yr old cousin was shot in the main artery of his leg. He lost all but an once of blood from his body. Paramedics lost him for a couple of minutes at the scene of the incident and were successfully able to bring him back. Every organ in his body is working normally except for his liver and kidneys. The kidneys are showing progress however the liver is not. Is it true that the liver can repair itself? If so, how long because its been about 10 days now. We don't know what questions to ask the doctors. Thanks!

[rasticle]

Hey,

I have some doctors in my family.  They have mentioned to me before that the liver is the only internal organ that is able to repair itself and regrow.  Thats why when people get liver transplants they only need a partial liver and then it grows the correct size for the patient.

Hope that helps some.

[CalGal]

The liver can repair itself to quite a good degree, but it depends on how much damage was done and where the damage was. There are some regions that are more 'vulnerable' than others within the liver since it has one area where all the major blood vessels and other vessels go in and out. If that area is damaged, it could be very difficult to have the other portions of the liver do a lot.

Repair isn't a quick process, however. So in terms of the liver, if the damage is in an area that can repair, your cousin could be looking at months to a year to fully restore - or get as close as possible - to returning to decent function.

I'm glad to hear his kidneys are showing progress, because they can usually be the organ that can cause a heck of a lot of problems. When they shut down or loose a lot of the blood that is being pumped into them for filtration, they usually just shut down and not function at all.

I hope your cousin's recovery goes well.