Vascular closure staples for portal vein reconstruction in living-donor liver transplantation.
BACKGROUND
Portal vein reconstruction is still a crucial problem in living-donor liver transplantation. Vascular closure staples (VCS) have been applied for small peripheral and large vessels because of the technical ease with which they can be employed. We describe here our experience with portal vein reconstruction in living donor-liver transplantation and compare VCS with conventional sutures in portal vein reconstruction.


METHODS
The anastomosis between the donor portal vein and recipient portal vein or the right external iliac vein graft was created using either VCS or conventional sutures.


RESULTS
The stenotic ratios were .51 +/- .15 and .79 +/- .25 for the conventional sutures and VCS, respectively. The stenotic ratio was significantly lower in VCS compared with conventional sutures.


CONCLUSIONS
VCS compared with conventional sutures has the advantage of low risk of anastomotic stenosis.
Second Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Hiroshima University, Minami-ku, Hiroshima 734-8551, Japan. htashiro@hiroshima-u.ac.jp
Hirotaka
H
Tashiro
Hideki
H
Ohdan
Toshiyuki
T
Itamoto
Minoru
M
Ishifuro
Hidetaka
H
Hara
Daisuke
D
Tokita
Takashi
T
Onoe
Kouhei
K
Ishiyama
Hiroshi
H
Mitsuta
Kentarou
K
Ide
Takayuki
T
Ogawa
Toshimasa
T
Asahara
D000328:Adult; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical / Q000295:instrumentation; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006084:Graft Rejection; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010690:Phlebography; D011169:Portal Vein / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013537:Sutures; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*