title: A meta-analysis of complications following deceased donor liver transplant.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Liver transplantation is a complex surgery associated with high rates of postoperative complications. While national outcomes data are available, national rates of most complications are unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic review of the literature reporting rates of postoperative complications between 2002 and 2012 was performed. A cohort of 29,227 deceased donor liver transplant recipients from 74 studies was used to calculate pooled incidences for 17 major postoperative complications.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first comprehensive review of postoperative complications after liver transplantation and can serve as a guide for transplant and nontransplant clinicians. Efforts to collect national data on complications, such as through the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, would improve the ability to provide patients with informed consent, serve as a tool for individual center performance monitoring, and provide a central source against which to measure interventions aimed at improving patient care.
authors.affiliation: Center for Healthcare Studies, Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA; Northwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC), Comprehensive Transplant Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA. Electronic address: lisa.mcelroy@northwestern.edu.
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: McElroy
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC), Comprehensive Transplant Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Amna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Daud
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC), Comprehensive Transplant Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Ashley E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC), Comprehensive Transplant Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Brittany
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lapin
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC), Comprehensive Transplant Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Talia
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC), Comprehensive Transplant Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Abecassis
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC), Comprehensive Transplant Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Josh
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Levitsky
authors.affiliation: Center for Healthcare Studies, Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Jane L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Holl
authors.affiliation: Center for Healthcare Studies, Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA; Northwestern University Transplant Outcomes Research Collaborative (NUTORC), Comprehensive Transplant Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
authors.forename: Daniela P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Ladner
mesh_terms: D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D016031:Liver Transplantation; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D014019:Tissue Donors
keywords: Liver transplantation; Patient outcomes; Postoperative complications; Secondary analysis