Anesthesia in orthotopic liver transplantation. Report of 8 cases

The anesthetic management of orthotopic liver transplantation has become a new problem with special requirements. From the anesthetist's point of view the operation is divided into four phases: the first is the phase of removal of the diseased liver, characterized by heavy bleeding; the second is the anhepatic phase, dominated by a sudden reduction of blood return to the heart due to cross-clamping of inferior vena cava; the third is the phase of partial re-establishment of circulation of the donated liver, marked by a progressive drop in body temperature and great changes in acid-base equilibrium and electrolytes, especially potassium, and disturbances of blood coagulation potassium, and disturbances of blood coagulation; the fourth is the phase of release of the clamps from the inferior vena cava, which causes a rise in the central venous and systolic pressures, and may also aggravate the metabolic acidosis. Eight cases of orthotopic liver transplantation for late-stage unresectable hepatocarcinoma have been operated upon under combined neurolept anesthesia in recent 3 years. The age of the patients is between 29-50 years. We think that neurolept analgesia with the combined use of gamma-OH, diazepam, ketamine and gallamine is one of the safest methods of anesthesia, which has a minimal toxicity to the liver, a smooth induction and rapid recovery of consciousness, and puts little burden on the circulation. The postoperative survival of first seven patients was between 6-264 days. There were no postanesthetic complications in our series. The authors conclude that the proper choice of anesthesia, careful monitoring and judicious management of the patients during the various phases of operation, the maintenance of good condition of the donated liver and skillful surgical technique are the basic requirements for successful transplantation.