The institution reached an annual record of 50 liver transplants and, in just one month, performed four heart transplants
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The medical teams at Hospital Garrahan performed four surgeries on patients who were in a national emergency.
In 34 hours, between last Friday and Saturday, the Liver Transplant, Cardiovascular Surgery and Heart Transplant, and Kidney Transplant services transplanted two livers, one heart, and one kidney in four patients between 6 months (13 pounds) and 16 years old.
El Garrahan realizó cuatro trasplantes a niños en un fin de semana.
"The ability to carry out four transplants in just over 34 hours is due first to donation—without the altruism and solidarity of people, this would not be possible—to the formation of solid teams with high experience, and to the availability of human resources to provide an immediate response and carry out the operations," emphasized Natalia Pabón, Director of Pediatric Care at Garrahan.
"Nothing makes us prouder than being able to fulfill our Hospital's mission, which is to respond to the needs of high-complexity health care and provide the highest quality treatments to children with serious illnesses," she added.
The first procedure began on Friday at 8:18 a.m., when a six-month-old baby entered the operating room and received a liver from a related living donor who had been operated on hours earlier by transplant teams at Hospital Argerich.
El Garrahan realizó cuatro trasplantes a niños en un fin de semana.
The medical team was led by surgeon Esteban Halac and included around 25 professionals among surgeons, assistants, anesthesiologists, surgical technologists, and circulating nurses. The operation, which ended at 4:30 p.m., consisted of replacing the diseased organ due to biliary atresia with a healthy liver.
Transplants at Hospital Garrahan
The same team, this time led by surgeon Marcelo Dip, transplanted a 16-year-old adolescent in the early hours of Saturday with a liver from a deceased donor. The operation began at 2:43 a.m. and ended after 12 noon.
The procedure is notable for being the 50th liver transplant of the year, an annual record—since, without having closed 2025, it surpasses the 40 reached in 2024.
El Garrahan realizó cuatro trasplantes a niños en un fin de semana.
"We have a team operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That makes it easier for a transplant with a deceased donor, as in this case, to be performed. There are many people willing to finish one surgery and start another, generating greater operational availability," Halac indicated.
Transplant record at Garrahan
Meanwhile, at 12:43 a.m. on Saturday, the Cardiovascular Surgery, Heart and Peripheral Vascular Transplant team began a heart transplant in a 16-year-old adolescent who suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy.
The operation lasted just over four hours, ended at 5:20 a.m., and was led by surgeon Pablo García Delucis. The team also included surgeons, assistants, anesthesiologists, surgical technologists, and circulating nurses.
Garrahan is the hospital that performs the most pediatric transplants nationwide, carrying out between six and seven pediatric heart transplants per year. However, with the one performed on Saturday, four were completed in one month.
Outstanding work by Garrahan's doctors
"This speaks to the great work the hospital does, to the daily effort and availability of a team to perform this type of procedure at any time of day, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Having a team to perform these operations that last for hours is an incalculable value," said Delucis, who also highlighted greater social awareness about the importance of organ donation.
Finally, on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., the Kidney Transplant team, made up of five surgeons and a nephrologist, transplanted an 11-year-old patient with complex uropathy and only one functioning kidney, worsened by a case of hemolytic uremic syndrome. The surgery lasted four hours and the boy is progressing very favorably.
With this operation, Hospital Garrahan totaled four high-complexity procedures in patients who required a transplant as the only therapeutic alternative to improve and prolong their quality of life, thanks to advanced technology and the excellence and availability of its medical teams.
