Treatment of cirrhosis
and ultrasound exams to look for signs of liver cancer. Hepatic encephalopathy. You may be prescribed medicines to help reduce the buildup of toxins in your blood caused by poor liver function. Liver transplant surgery In advanced cases of cirrhosis, when the liver stops working properly, a liver transplant may be the only treatment option. A liver transplant is a procedure to replace your liver with a healthy liver from a deceased donor or with part of a liver from a living donor. Cirrhosis is one of the most common reasons for a liver transplant. Candidates for liver transplant have extensive testing to determine whether they are healthy enough to have a good outcome following surgery. Historically, those with alcoholic cirrhosis have not been liver transplant candidates because of the risk that they will return to harmful drinking after transplant. Recent studies, however, suggest that carefully selected people with severe alcoholic cirrhosis have post-transplant survival rates similar to those of liver transplant recipients with other types of liver disease. For transplant to be an option if you have alcoholic cirrhosis, you would need to: Find a program that works with people who have alcoholic cirrhosis. Meet the requirements of the program. These would include lifelong commitment to alcohol abstinence as well as other requirements of the specific transplant center.