Complications of liver donation for living related liver transplantation

Living related liver transplantation (LRLT) has gained popularity, especially in Asian countries as the primary mode of liver transplantation. LRLT, however, carries the inherent problem of potential donor harm. In view of reports of donor deaths and significant donor morbidity (as high as 67%), we examined donor complication rates in our LRLT program. All sixteen LRLT donors between February 2000 and January 2003 were retrospectively analyzed. The 16 donors (13 men, 3 women) of mean age 30 years (range, 18-49 years) included 5 donations from siblings, 2 from parents, and 9 from offsprings. The portion of liver donated was L hepatectomy (n = 4) R hepatectomy (n = 7), and Modified Extended R hepatectomy (n = 5) with the weight of resected liver being 618.9 g (range, 380-1000). The mean blood loss was 936 mL (range, 400-1900 mL), but only 2 donors required transfusion of banked blood. The mean intensive care unitstay was 1.06 days (range, 1-2 days) and the mean hospital stay was 9.12 days (range, 7-14 days). There was no case of reoperation and no mortality. There was no biliary or vascular complication. Four of 16 (25%) donors had a minor morbidity; 2 of 16 (12.5%) had a morbidity requiring intervention. In conclusion, with meticulous preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative management, successful LRLT can be performed with minimal donor morbidities.