Technique of Hepatic Artery Anastomosis in Living Donor Liver Transplantation: Review of Its Results in Over 1200 Adult and Pediatric Transplants

Background: Failure to achieve a good arterial inflow to the graft in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has disastrous consequences to the graft and patient survival. Standard microvascular techniques of hepatic artery (HA) anastomosis used in deceased donor liver transplantation are not applicable in LDLT. We present the results of our unique Backwall-first technique of HA anastomosis in both adult and pediatric LDLT.

Patients and methods: Retrospective review of all consecutive patients who underwent LDLT from January 2010 to December 2020 was performed from our prospective database. Data with regard to early postoperative (90-day) hepatic arterial complications were analyzed.

Results: A total of 1276 LDLTs (876 adults, 400 children) were performed during the study period. In the 90-day postoperative period, HA anastomotic complications [thrombosis in 11 (0.9%); pseudoaneurysm in 3 (0.2%)] were observed in 14 recipients (1.1%) including 8 adults (0.9%) and 6 children (1.5%). Eight of these 14 recipients (0.6%) including 4 adults (0.5%) and 4 children (1%) had standard HA reconstruction. The remaining six (0.5%) including 4 adults and 2 children had complex arterial reconstruction with interposition graft and/or alternative arterial inflow.

Conclusion: The Backwall-first technique of HA reconstruction described in this study achieved a very low HA complication rate in LDLT.