Complications in the right lobe adult living donor: single-center experience in China

Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been accepted as an established treatment modality for end-stage liver diseases to alleviate the shortage of cadaveric organs. Reported complication rates for right lobe adult living donors vary, but are estimated to be approximately 35% with a surgical mortality rate of approximately 0.3%. Our objective was to evaluate the complications in right lobe adult living donors in a single center.

This retrospective review includes 62 adult living donors who underwent right hemi-hepatectomy between January 2002 and December 2006. Eighteen donors were men and 44 were women (range, 18-65 years; median age, 36 years). The mean follow-up time for the donors was 16 months (range, 3 months-4 years).

All donors were alive and well at the end of the study period. Complications included pleural effusion (n=6; 9.68%), bile leaks (n=3; 4.84%), wound infection (n=2; 3.23%), pneumonia (n=2; 3.23%), chyle leak (n=1; 1.61%), intra-abdominal bleeding (n=1; 1.61%), subphrenic effusion (n=1; 1.61%), portal vein thrombosis (n=1; 1.61%), and chylothorax (n=1; 1.61%). There was no donor mortality, and the overall complication rate was 29%.

The overall complication rate in the right lobe adult living donor was 29% in our center; there was no donor mortality. These complications could be avoided or overcome through intensive postoperative surveillance.