Rehabilitation of children and adolescents after organ transplantation

: Today transplantation of different vital organs is an often and successfully applied clinical method. After organ transplantation the degree of recovery mainly depends on graft function. Besides social, work and school reintegration as well as the development of independence and self-responsibility are decisive for a general recovery. Therefore a rehabilitation should be planned in the scope of the medical care after transplantation. For this reason the rehabilitation center for children and juvenile was founded in Stronach, Austria in 1992. Since then until March 1995 136 kidney- and 54 liver transplanted patients have been treated. There is a significant increase of hemoglobine in all cases and a significant decrease of creatinine as a parameter of graft function in kidney-transplanted patients. By spiroergometric testing the heartrate at the aerobic-anaerobic threshold can be easily estimated in children and juvenile and in consideration of these results the physical endurance can be distinctively increased by an individual training program.