The body immune system searches for and destroys any external agents in the body. This external factor can range from an infectious virus to a transplanted organ. This process of organ transplant destruction by the body’s immune system is called transplant rejection.

The most common time for transplant rejection is in the first trimester, and most patients go through a mild to moderate transplant rejection in this period. However, rejection is possible at any time.

For this purpose, repressive drugs are prescribed to prevent this from happening. If the transplant rejection occurs quickly, the transplant rejection will be acute, and if not treated and progresses slowly, it will cause irreversible changes in the liver, which is called chronic transplant rejection, and treatment will become very difficult. Chronic transplant rejection is most likely to occur in those who discontinue transplant medication arbitrarily.

• How liver rejection could be detected?

Usually with an increase in liver enzymes, the doctor may suspect a rejection, but a liver transplant rejection may also have some symptoms.

• Signs of rejection:

The following symptoms could be a sign of a rejection. Again, rejection is not always associated with symptom, so it is important to do the required tests according to the transplant team, as negligence and carelessness in this regard will cause useless regret.

• Fever: A sublingual temperature above 38.4 C° is considered as fever.
• Influenza-like symptoms: These include mild fever, joint pain, muscle and bone ache, headache and dizziness. If these symptoms occur, consult your doctor or transplant coordinating team.
• Pain in the upper and right side of abdomen and on the liver: Numbness feeling at the transplant site is a natural and permanent problem and is sometimes accompanied by sudden electric shock due to trauma or pain in the right hand shoulder; however, any abnormal pain must be notified.
• Fatigue and lethargy or confusion
• Jaundice
• Severe loss of appetite
• Darkening of the urine
• Mild diarrhea or loose/discolored stools