Objective: To study the effects of 3 different operational patterns of piggyback liver transplantation (PBLT) used to reconstruct backflow of hepatic veins.
Methods: Sixty-three operations of PBLT were performed on 59 patients with terminal hepatic diseases after three operational patterns: EEAT [the suprahepatic inferior vena cava (sup-H-IVC) of donor is anstomosed with the plasticized hepatic vein of recipient end-to-end, also called standard PBLT, SPBLT] in 17 cases, ESAT (the sup-H-IVC of donor is anastomosed with the sup-H-IVC of recipient end-to-side) in 12 cases, and SSAT [the retrohepatic IVC (RHIVC) of donor is anastomosed with the RHIVC of recipient side-to-side] in 32 cases, the latter two patterns being called ameliorative PBLT (APBLT) jointly. The effects were analyzed.
Results: Complications, such as backflow obstruction of hepatic vein and delayed recovery of liver function, were observed in the EEAT and ESAT groups, but not in the SSAT group.
Conclusion: The SSAT pattern of PBLT is easy to perform and advantageous to avoid the technical maladies of the other 2 patterns and postoperative complications, and provides assurance of recovery after operation.