ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1500575
This article is part of the Research TopicEnhancing Psychological Resilience and Therapeutic Adherence in Organ TransplantationView all articles
Benefit-finding experiences of liver transplant recipients who underwent perioperative extracorporeal membrane oxygenation treatment: A Qualitative Research
Provisionally accepted
- Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
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Objective: This study aimed to examine the benefit-finding experiences of liver transplant recipients who undergo perioperative extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) treatments in order to provide targeted nursing care and promote mental health among these patients.This study employed the phenomenological research approach within the framework of qualitative research. The determination of the sample size was predicated on achieving information saturation. Between June 2023 and March 2024, eight liver transplant recipients who underwent perioperative ECMO treatment at a qualified liver transplantation hospital in Guangxi were purposively selected for semi-structured interviews. In line with the cognitive adaptation theory, this study employed template analysis as the analytical approach, wherein each word in the text content was meticulously examined and categorized into their respective structures based on the theory's three frameworks. The study involved a total of eight participants, comprising seven male and one female patient, aged between 43 and 68 years. Among the eight patients, seven had grade 3 or higher coronary artery disease, and one had severe arrhythmia, all of which were attributed to heart conditions necessitating ECMO support during liver transplantation. The ECMO types used were exclusively VA, with auxiliary durations varying between 5 h and 9.5 h. Three overarching themes and seven corresponding sub-themes were extracted: (1) the search for meaning, including a strong desire to survive, recognize the meaning of therapy; (2) gaining a sense of mastery, including a sense of control over one's body and psychological; (3) self-enhancement, including perceiving social support, strengthening self-management, and affirming self-worth.Liver transplant recipients who undergo preoperative ECMO treatment can have benefit-finding experiences. This study indicates that medical professionals should not only focus onThe data obtained were organized with the mode of template analysis was used to analyze the data.timely and accurate treatment but also prioritize addressing patients' psychological needs while caring for critically ill individuals. Clinical medical staff can guide patients in engaging in positive psychological construction, exploring and providing effective social support resources, fostering patients' self-health management, and enhancing the level and patients' ability of benefit-finding by strengthening knowledge, education, and establishing psychological mutual assistance platforms after liver transplantation.
Keywords: Liver transplant recipients, ECMO, benefit-finding, Perioperative, qualitative research
Received: 27 Sep 2024; Accepted: 09 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Lei, Mo, Huang, Huang, Zhou, Dong, Zeng, Liu and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xuyong Sun, Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, China
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