Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 22, 2026
Procurement for a Vascularized and Reinnervated Abdominal Wall Allotransplantation
Published on: July 18, 2025
Use of Nonvascularized Abdominal Rectus Fascia After Liver, Small Bowel, and Multiorgan Transplantation: Long-Term
P A Farinelli1, J S Rubio1, J M Padín1
1Intestinal Failure, Rehabilitation and Transplant Unit, Hepatology, Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Surgery and Liver Transplant Unit, Multiorgan Transplant Institute, Hospital Universitario Fundación Favaloro, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Background:
The abdominal wall may be severely compromised in the vast majority of intestinal and multiorgan transplant candidates, and sometimes as a consequence of complex liver transplantation. Multiple options have been described to overcome this problem, varying from component separation to the extreme need of performing an abdominal wall transplantation. The aim of the present paper is to report the largest and longest-term results of patients that received an abdominal rectus fascia (ARF) after liver, intestinal, or multiorgan transplantation at a single transplant center.
Methods:
This is a retrospective report of a prospectively collected dataset of all the patients that received ARF during liver, isolated intestine, combined, or multiorgan transplantation at Fundación Favaloro from May 2006 to June 2016.
Results:
A total of 19 out of 528 patients (3.5%) that underwent abdominal organ transplant received an ARF graft: 17 patients after receiving an intestine-containing graft, and 2 after liver retransplantations. Three patients required changing the ARF, 2 with a synthetic mesh and 1 with another ARF. Five patients required late reoperations: A relaparotomy was performed by transecting the ARF without encountering adhesions on the inner ARF surface. None of the 2 patients who received liver retransplantations and ARF developed acute or chronic ventral defects.
Conclusions:
The use of ARF is a simple and reliable surgical option to close abdominal wall defects during transplantation, the fascia adequately incorporates to the abdominal wall, allowing it to be transected and resutured in the long term and preserving the integrity of the peritoneal layer.
