Introduction of microsurgical technique to biliary reconstruction in living donor liver transplantation.
OBJECTIVE
High rates of biliary complications continue to be a major concern associated with living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). In this article, we report our experience of applying a microsurgical technique to biliary reconstruction in LDLT.


METHODS
From January 2001 to December 2005, 32 patients underwent LDLTs (8 children and 24 adults). Biliary reconstruction for 43 hepatic duct orifices in the 32 donor grafts 21 duct-to-duct anastomoses, and 22 cholangiojejunostomies. Nine cholangiojejunostomies in 4 donors used a microsurgical technique under an operative microscope.


RESULTS
Biliary complications weren't observed among the cases of cholangiojejunostomy using a microsurgical technique. An anastomotic biliary leakage was found in a recipient with cholangiojejunostomy performed using a surgical loupe and a biliary stricture in another recipient who underwent duct-to-duct anastomoses using a surgical loupe.


CONCLUSIONS
Introduction of a microsurgical technique for biliary reconstruction in LDLT, especially using an operating microscope in the setting of hepatico-jejunostomy for small hepatic duct (< or =2 mm in diameter), showed good results. We believe that using the operative microscope for biliary reconstruction could reduce the incidence of biliary complications associated with LDLT.
Yan
L
L
Liver Transplantation Division, Department of Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University Medical School, Chengdu 61004, China. yanlunan688@163.com
Li
B
B
Zeng
Y
Y
Wen
T
T
Zhao
J
J
Wang
W
W
Yang
J
J
Xu
M
M
Ma
Y
Y
Chen
Z
Z
Liu
J
J
Wu
H
H
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005704:Gallbladder / Q000601:surgery*; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006500:Hepatic Duct, Common / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D019520:Living Donors; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008297:Male; D008866:Microsurgery / Q000379:methods*; D009679:Nuclear Family; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting