Vascular complications after living-donor liver transplantation: Assiut University Hospitals’ experience

Background
Posttransplant vascular complications (PTVCs) have a significant effect on graft and patient after living-donor liver transplantation. We aim to determine the incidence of these complications, focusing on the effects of using synthetic venous grafts in vascular reconstruction, versus performing nongraft primary anastomosis. We did not use natural grafts in this study.
Settings and design
We collected the preoperative/intraoperative and postoperative data prospectively from 39 recipients/donors who underwent living-donor liver transplantation from November 2014 to August 2019 at the department of surgery in Al-Rajehy Liver Hospital, Assiut University.
Patients and methods
The vascular reconstruction of hepatic veins (HVs) in all patients was performed using synthetic vascular grafts, anastomosing the grafts’ HVs (V5 and V8) to the recipients’ inferior vena cava, whereas portal veins were reconstructed without grafts. PTVCs were analyzed over 3 months to determine their effect on recipients’ morbidity and mortality, and their relation to the use of synthetic grafts in vascular reconstruction.
Statistical analysis
Data were analyzed via Statistical Package for the Social Science, version 22. We used Student test or Mann–Whitney test for quantitative data, and test for qualitative data.
Results
Among 39 recipients, four (10.26%) died during the follow-up period. Vascular complications were the leading cause of death in three patients. Portal vein thrombosis had the highest incidence rates among the seven recipients having PTVCs, being developed in three (7.69%) of them. It represented the leading cause of death in one patient, whereas HVs thrombosis developed in one (2.56%) recipient, leading to his death on the seventh postoperative day.
Conclusion
PTVCs have significant effect on graft durability, as well as recipient’s morbidity and mortality. The use of synthetic grafting in vascular reconstruction has shown particularly a significant negative effect.