Evaluation of surgical complications in 204 live liver donors according to the modified clavien classification system

Aziz, Amr M.; Saleh, Sherif; Soliman, Hossam E.; Shoreem, Hany; Hegazy, Osama; Taha, Mohamed; Salem, Emad H.; Zakaria, Hazem; Hamdy, Sameh; Abdeldayem, Hesham; Ibrahim, Tarek; Abuelella, Khaled

doi:10.4103/1110-1121.194734

Evaluation of surgical complications in 204 live liver donors according to the modified clavien classification system

Authors

10.4103/1110-1121.194734

Abstract

Results
The present study included 129 (63.2%) males and 75 (36.8%) females, with the donor’s mean age being 27.72±6.4 years (range: 19–45 years). There were 64 (31.4%) donors who developed postoperative complications, with a total of 74 complications. Ten (4.9%) donors had more than one complication. Twenty-nine (39.2%) donors had Clavien’s grade I complications, 38 (51.3%) donors had Clavien’s grade IIIa, six (8.1%) donors had Clavien’s grade IIIb complications, and there was one (0.5%) case of mortality (Clavien’s grade V).
Conclusion
Donor hepatectomy is a relatively safe procedure when performed by a dedicated and well-trained team. A prompt diagnosis and meticulous intervention is considered the first priority whenever a donor complication is expected. Furthermore, a continuous standardized reporting and a comprehensive database are crucial to precisely define true donor morbidity.
Background Several large centers have reported outstanding outcomes of living donor liver transplantation in decreasing mortality on the liver transplant waiting list. Nevertheless, living donor liver transplantation is not without risk to the volunteer donors. The rate of complications differs widely among transplant centers. Yet, there is no consensus on how to define and stratify complications by severity.
Participants and methods This retrospective study to identify and analyze the surgical outcomes of 204 consecutive living donor hepatectomies was carried out between April 2003 and October 2013 by using the modified Clavien classification system, according to which grade I=minor complications, grade II=any deviation from the normal postoperative course requiring pharmacologic treatment, grade III=complications requiring invasive treatment, grade IV=complications causing organ dysfunction requiring ICU management, and grade V=complications resulting in death.

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