Abstract

Organ transplantation has emerged as the saving grace for those who are suffering from end organ disease. Advent of modern surgical procedures and immunosuppressants further decrease morbidity and mortality. Meta-analyses have shown that post-organ transplantation quality of life improves for social, physical and daily activity functioning, but not consistently for psychological health. Psychiatrists can play a useful role not only in selecting the best suitable candidate for the procedure by psychosocial screening but also to tackle post-operation psychological issues that trouble patients as well as caretakers and decrease their quality of life. Issues like selection of patients with psychiatric disorders and substance abuse for transplantation process and their treatment both pre- and post- operation, risky health behaviours, treatment adherence for immunosuppressants and psychological support for caretakers can be better addressed by a psychiatrist who is sensitive towards these issues. Prescribing various psychotropics and immunosuppressants in the background of impaired organ function and drug-drug interaction is further challenging. Thus, psychiatrists need to be knowledgeable about these issues and should be an integral part of organ transplantation team for overall better outcome.

Details

Title
Organ transplant & the psychiatrist: An overview
Author
B Anil Kumar 1 ; Mattoo, Surendra 2 

 Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh; Department of Psychiatry, Shridevi Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Hospital, Tumkur, Karnataka 
 Department of Psychiatry, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research, Chandigarh 
Pages
408-416
Publication year
2015
Publication date
Oct 2015
Publisher
Scientific Scholar
ISSN
0971-5916
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2258195444
Copyright
© 2015. This work is published under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.