Reducing biliary complications in adult-to-adult living donor liver transplantation using right lobe graft: experience of 124 cases

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to summarize our experience of using right lobe liver grafts to reduce biliary complications in adult-to-adult (A-A) living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). From January 2002 to October 2007, 124 adult patients underwent living donor liver transplantation using right lobe grafts at the West China Hospital, Sichuan University Medical School, China. There was no death in all donors. Biliary reconstruction for 178 hepatic duct orifices from 124 donor grafts was performed which included 106 reconstructions of duct-to-duct anastomoses and 72 cholangiojejunostomy. Nine recipients had biliary complications including six bile leakages (four from the anastomotic site and two from the cut surface of the liver graft) and three biliary strictures. With the improved techniques for biliary reconstruction, we have achieved good results in 124 recipients of A-A LDLT. We ascribe our success to the introduction of microsurgical techniques and the use of fixed operators which help in decreasing the biliary complications of LDLT.

Keywords

living donor / liver transplantation / adult-to adult / right lobe graft / surgical technique / biliary complication