Control of severe portal bleeding by carrier-bound fibrin sealant

Carlos Apestegui1, Stefan Breitenstein, Philipp Dutkowski

  • 1The Swiss Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary (HPB) Center, Department of Visceral and Transplant Surgery, University Hospital of Zurich, Ramistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, Switzerland.

Surgery Today
|March 26, 2009
PubMed

Bleeding during liver surgery and liver transplantation (LT) can be caused by coagulation disorders, portal vein hypertension, and adhesions from previous surgical procedures. We describe here how we controlled life-threatening bleeding from a portal vein anastomosis during a third cadaveric LT, by using a carrier-bound sealant (TachoSil). This technique proved effective to control severe anastomotic portal bleeding in this situation. It represents a helpful option in the field of LT, when vascular bleeding cannot be stopped by other methods.

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