Multi-Organ Transplant Rehab

A recent rise in the number of transplants performed at UHN’s Toronto General Hospital (TGH) has resulted in an increasing number of patients requiring post-transplant rehabilitation.  The TGHC in collaboration with UHN formally implemented a program to provide patients with post-transplant rehabilitation.

The Multi-Organ Transplant Rehabilitation Program at the TGHC is comprehensive and thorough.  The interprofessional health care team at the TGHC work closely and collaboratively with the transplant team at TGH.  If there is a medical change with the transplant patient at the TGHC, the designated transplant coordinator at TGH is immediately contacted to co-ordinate the patient’s return back to TGH. This collaborative teamwork promotes a continuity of care that helps to reduce risks of adverse events. The benefit for patients in a post-transplant program is that they can expect a shortened acute care stay and earlier access to Complex Continuing Care rehabilitation services.

The success of our Multi-Organ Transplant Rehabilitation Program has helped to initiate another unified and collaborative partnership with TGH.  The TGHC has expanded the program to accept patients from TGH with a left ventricular assistive device (LVAD).

An LVAD is a battery-operated device that is surgically implanted inside a person’s chest to help the left ventricle (the main pumping chamber of the heart) pump blood to the rest of the body. Unlike an artificial heart, the LVAD doesn’t replace the heart, it assists the patient’s heart to pump blood. The LVAD can be used for patients awaiting a heart transplant or for patients who are not a candidate for a heart transplant. In such cases, an LVAD may be implanted as a permanent solution.

To provide a collaborative and knowledgeable working partnership with the TGHC staff, TGH provided hands-on educational sessions related to the care of LVAD patients. The educational sessions were held at the TGHC, where the lead nurse practitioner from the cardiac unit at TGH discussed various topics, including the different types of LVADs, patient education and management, medication management, nutrition, potential complications, arrhythmias, emergency procedures, patient activity and backup emergency equipment.