Lahore: Pakistan has achieved what is being described as a world record in liver transplantation, with surgeons at the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and Research Centre (PKLI&RC) Lahore performing 10 liver transplants within 24 hours, including nine children and one adult, in a landmark feat that experts say highlights the country’s growing transplant capabilities despite the absence of a deceased organ donation programme.
The transplants were carried out in May 2026 by a multidisciplinary team led by PKLI Dean and renowned transplant surgeon Prof Dr Faisal Saud Dar, who said the procedures included a series of highly complex domino auxiliary pediatric liver transplants involving children suffering from rare metabolic liver disorders.
According to PKLI officials, the youngest recipient was just eight months old, while the remaining pediatric patients were children from Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa suffering from four different inherited metabolic liver diseases that had severely affected their health and survival prospects.
Explaining the complexity of the procedures, Dr Faisal Saud Dar told a news conference on Wednesday that some of the children had metabolic conditions in which the liver was structurally healthy but carried genetic defects, including disorders associated with abnormally high cholesterol levels.
In selected cases, parts of the livers removed from affected children were transplanted into other recipients in carefully planned domino procedures, allowing a single donor organ to benefit multiple patients.
He said performing 10 liver transplants in a single day required months of planning, multiple surgical teams, intensive care specialists, anesthetists, hepatologists, nurses and support staff working simultaneously around the clock.
“We believe this is a world record and are preparing documentation to submit to Guinness World Records,” Dr Dar said.
The achievement comes as PKLI continues to expand its transplant programme at a pace unmatched in Pakistan. Dr Dar disclosed that the institute has performed around 1,170 liver transplants and approximately 1,250 kidney transplants over the last five years, making it one of the busiest transplant centres in the region.
He said the overwhelming majority of transplant recipients are treated free of cost under the Punjab government’s healthcare programme.
“Residents of Punjab receive liver and kidney transplants free of charge. Only around 14 percent of patients pay out of pocket for their treatment,” he said, adding that access to life-saving transplantation has expanded significantly for families who would otherwise be unable to afford such procedures.
Medical experts regard the successful completion of multiple domino auxiliary liver transplants in children as particularly significant because these procedures are among the most technically demanding operations in transplant surgery and are performed in only a limited number of centres worldwide.
Accompanied by Punjab finance minister Mian Mujtaba Shuja-ur-Rehman, chairman PKLI Prof Dr Saeed Akhtar described the accomplishment as a major milestone for Pakistan’s healthcare system and evidence that advanced transplant medicine can be successfully delivered in the country.
“This is a breakthrough achievement for Pakistan, especially in a setting where a deceased donor programme is virtually non-existent,” he said.
Prof Akhtar noted that while living donor liver and kidney transplantation has advanced considerably in Pakistan, the absence of a robust deceased organ donation system continues to limit the development of several other transplant services.
He revealed that PKLI is now planning to establish a dedicated heart and lung transplant centre, but warned that such programmes cannot become operational without organs from deceased donors.
“Heart, lung and pancreas transplantation are not possible without deceased donors. One deceased donor can save up to eight lives and improve many more through tissue donation,” he said.
Despite legal provisions allowing organ donation from brain-dead individuals, only a small number of Pakistani families agree to organ retrieval after a loved one is declared brain dead, resulting in the loss of countless potentially life-saving organs each year.
Transplant experts say increasing public awareness about deceased organ donation remains critical if Pakistan is to expand beyond liver and kidney transplantation and offer advanced procedures such as heart, lung and pancreas transplants on a larger scale.
For now, however, PKLI’s achievement of conducting 10 liver transplants within 24 hours stands as one of the most remarkable milestones in the country’s medical history and a significant demonstration of the capabilities of Pakistan’s transplant surgeons and healthcare professionals.