Body Experience After Liver Transplantation: A Body Grid Examination

Living with a donated organ raises not only clinical aspects, such as surgery risks and possible graft rejection, but also questions regarding the psychological integration of the donor organ and the recipient's body experience. Organ recipients need to cope with the transplantation and its impact on their bodies and lives. This study presents findings concerning the psychological outcome of liver recipients and their body experience after transplantation. The focus lies on the psychological integration of the liver by the recipients and on differences in the body experience between recipients of a living liver donation (LDLT) and a deceased donor donation (LTx). To study the subjective body experience and the donor-organ integration, we used the body grid, a modification of the repertory grid technique pioneered by Kelly (1955 Kelly, G.A. (1955). The psychology of personal constructs. New York, NY: Norton. Google Scholar]). This technique allows both a quantitative and a qualitative research approach. We examined 22 liver recipients (12 LDLT; 10 LTx), matched for age, gender, years since transplantation, and type of liver disease. Additionally, quality of life data were collected using the Short Form-8 health survey (SF-8), along with sociodemographic data, including the current living situation, changes after transplantation, living donor data, and the donor-recipient relationship for the LDLT cases. Correlations between the SF-8 scores and the element distances were calculated. The results depict the recipients’ body experiences after liver transplantation, the psychological integration of the transplanted organ, and correlations between quality of life and organ integration. Differences between the LDLT and LTx group are discussed, as well as implications for improving the treatment and psychological support of the recipients.