Controlled-surgical education in clinical liver transplantation is not associated with increased patient risks

A qualified surgical team is required to perform liver transplantation (LTX). Growing numbers of transplants at transplant centers and large variations of transplant frequencies make a continuous education to train young surgeons on this complex field of hepato-biliary surgery mandatory, both from the organizational and motivational point of view (job enrichment and professional growth). On the contrary, perioperative patient risk management is of major importance in surgical practice and given growing organizational concern in hospitals. A retrospective clinical study was performed to describe and evaluate the process of surgical training for orthotopic LTX. Patient risks associated with or caused by the education process in clinical LTX were analyzed.

Perioperative patient data and details of surgical strategies were collected for 155 consecutive LTX carried out at a single center. Operative and follow-up data were correlated with the degree of surgical experience of the first operating surgeon. Two groups were defined. In group A, transplant surgeons with >30 personally performed LTXs (n = 3) and in group B, transplant fellows with >30 assistance in LTx (n = 3) performed the operations. All LTX operations were standardized based on modified piggyback technique described by Belghiti. Group B operations were performed under close supervision/assistance of the ''transplant surgeon.'' Selection of patients for exposure to surgical training was based on the pre-operative estimation of surgical difficulty. Operative time, blood loss, liver function, post-operative morbidity, and survival rate data were compared in both groups.

A total of 155 LTX were performed in 131 patients and were analyzed, and 106 operations (68.3%) were performed by group A and 49 operations (31.6%) were performed by transplant fellows under supervision (group B). No significant differences concerning mean patient age, distribution of type of disease, operating time, the Model for Endstage Liver Disease (MELD) score and frequency of category Child A, B and C were detected between groups. Overall post-operative complication rate was 21.9% (n = 34). Transplant surgeons and transplant fellows had 19.8% (n = 21) and 26.5% (n = 13) of complication rate, respectively (p > 0.05). Overall patients survival rate was 94% and 89% at 45 days for the patients operated in groups A and B, respectively (p > 0.05). Survival rate, blood loss, intraoperative transfusion requirements and operating time did not differ significantly between groups.

Liver transplantation requires team performance to minimize patient risks. Incidence of complications was associated with the severity of disease but not with the education process. It could be demonstrated that with careful patient selection and supervision of the transplant fellow with a more experienced surgeon, the results are equal to those obtained when the experienced transplant surgeon is the prime operator.