Objective: To evaluate both the opinion that living liver donors have of the process and the psychological, economic, and social consequences of donation.
Material and methods: Six months after the donation, an anonymous survey was sent to 22 donors of the right liver lobe between March 2000 and December 2002.
Results: 15 surveys were returned with all of the questions answered. Almost all the donors had no prior knowledge of living donation. When they were considered to be suitable donors, all of them felt happy, 21% were scared and 15% felt joy and insecurity. The information provided was well understood and accurately described the experiences of 93% of donors. All donors understood the vital risk, and 93% understood that transplantation is not always completely successful. All donors would repeat the experience. Mean hospital stay was 12.6 days. Mean convalescence was 50.6 days. Salaried donors were on sick leave for a mean of 96.4 days (21-150 days), causing financial problems in six cases (36%), due to no financial compensation and compulsory redundancy in one case. All donors had completely recovered at six months after donation.
Discussion: Adult living donation of the right liver lobe is an accepted therapeutic alternative. In order to regulate medical and economic protection to avoid additional disturbances after donation, the public, patients, and physicians require more complete information about living donation.