Jaipur, Sept. 18 -- The Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur has achieved a major milestone by performing Rajasthan's first successful paediatric liver transplant, giving a new lease of life to a 15-year-old boy who was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition. The teenager underwent the complex transplant procedure after a suitable liver became available following the organ donation of a nine-year-old brain-dead girl in Jodhpur. After recovering well following the surgery, the boy was discharged from SMS Hospital on Thursday, September 17, states an official release. The transplant, which would cost around Rs.20-30 lakh at private hospitals, was performed completely free of cost under the state government's Mukhyamantri Ayushman Arogya Yojana (MAAY). The liver was transported from Jodhpur to Jaipur through a green corridor on August 29, enabling the organ to reach SMS Hospital within the required time for transplantation. The transplant became possible after the family of the brain-dead girl in Jodhpur took the decision to donate her organs. The organ allocation process following the donation was carried out by joint director Dr Chitra Singh and the State Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (SOTO) Rajasthan team at SMS Medical College, Jaipur. This was the 86th cadaveric organ donation recorded in Rajasthan. SMS Hospital has so far facilitated 37 successful cadaveric organ donations. The successful paediatric transplant involved a multidisciplinary team from several departments, including HPB and Liver Transplant Surgery, anaesthesia, paediatric hepatology, general surgery, radiology, interventional radiology and transfusion medicine, besides transplant coordinators, nursing and paramedical staff. The liver transplant surgery team was headed by department head Dr Dinesh Kumar Bharti and included Dr Ashutosh Pancholi, Dr Pawan and Dr Ashish. The anaesthesia team comprised Dr Poonam Kalra, Dr Mamta Sharma, Dr Yogesh Modi, Dr Mahipal and Dr Sanjay, while paediatric hepatology was handled by Dr Preeti Vijay. Hospital officials said paediatric liver transplantation is among the most complex transplant procedures and requires coordinated care before, during and after surgery. The successful procedure marks the beginning of paediatric liver transplant services at SMS Hospital, potentially reducing the need for families from Rajasthan to travel outside the state for such treatment. SMS Medical College principal Dr Deepak Maheshwari and hospital superintendent Dr Mrinal Joshi congratulated the medical and support teams for the achievement. They said the introduction of paediatric liver transplantation at SMS Hospital, coupled with its availability free of cost under the state government scheme, was an important development for patients requiring specialised transplant care. With the successful completion of the procedure, SMS Hospital has added paediatric liver transplantation to its advanced transplant services....