Prolonged hepatic inflow occlusion to reduce bleeding during recipient hepatectomy in living donor liver transplantation.

BACKGROUND

Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) causes bleeding in recipients during the careful preservation of most perihilar structures during this surgery. This case-control study aimed to analyze the effect of prolonged hepatic inflow occlusion (PHIO) when applied during recipient hepatectomy in LDLT.

METHODS

The study group comprised patients who underwent PHIO with Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores ranging from 26 to 35 (n=20). The following two control groups were selected according to their MELD scores: the low-MELD score group (MELD scores of 15-20, n=40) and the high-MELD score group (MELD scores of 26-35, n=40). Total dissection time for hepatic mobilization and dissection and blood loss during these procedures were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

In the PHIO study group, mean total dissection time and mean PHIO duration were 226.3±59.4 and 68.2±19.1 minutes, respectively. Twelve patients underwent PHIO twice, and the other eight patients underwent PHIO once. The low-MELD score control group and the PHIO study group showed similar dissection duration (216.0±43.9 vs. 226.3±59.4 minutes, P=0.82) and similar blood loss volume during dissection (2,112.5±1,614.9 vs. 2,350.0±951.9 mL, P=0.17). The high-MELD score control group and the PHIO study group showed similar dissection duration (241.0±41.9 vs. 226.3±59.4 minutes, P=0.71), but the PHIO group showed a significantly lower blood loss during dissection than the high-MELD score group (2,350.0±951.9 vs. 2,815.0±1,813.9 mL, P=0.002). During and after PHIO, no adverse complication was observed, except for transient splanchnic congestion.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that PHIO is a simple effective method to reduce intraoperative bleeding during hepatic mobilization and dissection during LDLT operation requiring difficult dissection.