Role of plastic surgeons in hepatic artery anastomosis in living donor liver transplantation: our experience of 10 cases.

AIM: To understand the practical difficulties encountered while performing hepatic artery anastomosis by microsurgical technique in living donor liver transplantation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We undertook a retrospective study of 10 cases of hepatic artery anastomosis done at the level of bifurcation of the right hepatic artery and proximal when the plastic surgery team was called in for assistance. All the anastomoses were performed under an operating microscope (up to 24× magnification). In seven of these cases, anterior wall anastomosis was performed primarily, and in three cases, posterior wall approach was chosen. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The main indications of calling in the plastic surgery team were to overcome these technical hurdles: (1) in cases where the caliber of the vessel was less than 2 mm in size; (2) dissection (separation of mucosa and adventitia) of the recipient vessel wall; (3) donor pedicle being so short that possibility of revision of the anastomosis seemed unlikely, necessitating single, sure-shot anastomosis without a chance of revision. The problems encountered by our microsurgical team were: (1) a special set of instruments was warranted because of the depth of the hepatic artery; (2) anastomosis had to be done in standing, stooped position with unsupported hands; (3) excessive movements due to respiration and profuse fluid collection in the field added to the hurdles encountered. All patients were prospectively followed by color Doppler ultrasound protocol for the first 5 days after surgery. Hepatic artery thrombosis was encountered in one case on postoperative day 10, which was successfully treated by thrombolytic therapy, but unfortunately the patient died of multiorgan failure on posttransplant day 30.