Abdominal drainage after liver transplantation from deceased donors.
OBJECTIVE
Traditionally, abdominal drainage (AD) is routinely inserted in patients after liver transplantation (LT) to drain ascites and to detect postoperative hemorrhage and bile leakage. However, the benefit of this surgical practice remains a matter of debate regarding potential drainage-associated morbidities.


METHODS
In a retrospective pair-matched analysis in a 1:1 ratio, 116 patients after LT were assessed with regards to benefits and risks of abdominal drainage under immunosuppression, respecting model for end-stage liver disease (MELD), age, and gender.


RESULTS
The indications for LT were comparable between the drain and the no-drain group. There was an increased rate of early bile leakage in patients with abdominal drainage (13.8 vs. 1.7%, p = 0.032). In addition, a significantly higher incidence of infections requiring antibiotic therapy was observed in the drain group (63.8 vs. 39.7%, p = 0.015). The contribution of drains as a diagnostic tool was marginal, as in the drain group, other diagnostic tools than the drain itself confirmed 50% of all early bile leakages and 60% of postoperative hemorrhages. Overall, there was no difference regarding the incidence of incisional hernia after LT (8.6 vs. 10.3%, p = 1.000), length of hospital stay (22.9 ± 18.7 vs. 18.6 ± 18.6 days, p = 0.215), and 1- and 5-year patient (p = 0.981) and graft survival (p = 0.092).


CONCLUSIONS
Equal results can be achieved with or without an abdominal drain in recipients with whole-liver grafts in spite of an increased risk of postoperative infection and biliary leakage in the former group. A benefit of AD as a diagnostic tool could not be demonstrated.
Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, Waehringerguertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
Christoph
C
Schwarz
Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, Waehringerguertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria. thomas.soliman@meduniwien.ac.at.
Thomas
T
Soliman
Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, Waehringerguertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
Georg
G
Györi
Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, Waehringerguertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
Gerd
G
Silberhumer
Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, Waehringerguertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
Sebastian F
SF
Schoppmann
Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, Waehringerguertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
Ferdinand
F
Mühlbacher
Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, Waehringerguertel 18-20, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
Gabriela A
GA
Berlakovich
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004322:Drainage / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006084:Graft Rejection; D006085:Graft Survival; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D017093:Liver Failure / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D016031:Liver Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011182:Postoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D014019:Tissue Donors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
Abdominal drainage; Bile leakage; Infections; Liver transplantation