The role of intraoperative hemodialysis in liver transplant patients

Orthotopic liver transplant (OLT) is a major surgical procedure that can be both challenging and lengthy. One of the common findings in end-stage liver disease is renal failure, whether acute or chronic, which may complicate the intraoperative course.

The use of intraoperative hemodialysis is described by several centers to aid during OLT cases with impaired renal function or kidney failure. Unfortunately, there is a paucity of available data, which is limited to sporadic case reports, and only few structured studies in which continuous renal replacement therapy was used versus intraoperative hemodialysis, which is the main focus of this article. The rationale behind the use of intraoperative hemodialysis during OLT in patients with kidney dysfunction or failure is that the procedure is usually complicated by major hemodynamic changes, metabolic derangement, and coagulation abnormalities, which we think can be better managed intraoperatively using hemodialysis. In our institution, we performed over 140 cases of OLT using intraoperative hemodialysis since 2003 until the present. A retrospective cohort study is being conducted during the writing of this article. Preliminary data collection report zero percentage intraoperative mortality and 48 h postoperatively.

Hemodialysis is widely acknowledged as a treatment option to stabilize patients with renal failure, and one of the most challenging situations is during OLT in which the role of intraoperative hemodialysis is becoming more important today more than ever before.