Anesthesia considerations for orthotopic liver transplantation

An institutionwide commitment is necessary for the success of a liver transplantation program. Although the number of people available to manage anesthesia for such surgery may vary, a minimally staffed transplantation team must include a staff anesthesiologist, an anesthesia resident, one or two certified nurse-anesthetists, and a nonprofessional to obtain and run specimens to the laboratory and blood bank; the operating room must be connected by intercom and telephone to support services. Another technician may be present to collect specimens and data for research purposes. Additional staff anesthesiologists, certified nurse-anesthetists, and anesthesia residents should be on call for other emergency surgery. The staff of laboratory and blood bank facilities must participate wholeheartedly to meet ongoing requirements during a liver transplantation. Enormous quantities of packed red cells (up to 250 units), fresh-frozen plasma, platelets, and occasionally cryoprecipitate must be immediately available. In addition, the donor pool and the supply of on-hand blood must be large enough to prevent shortages of blood for other emergency or routine surgery. Liver transplantation procedures last an average of 12 hours and cannot easily be accommodated in a busy operating room schedule. It is not reasonable to expect other patients, other surgeons, the anesthesiology department, and the hospital to postpone routine or other emergency surgery while a liver transplantation is being performed. Thus, the hospital must provide facilities to accommodate such a program either by new construction or by remodeling or reassigning operating space.