Using the traditional technique for liver transplantation, there are two supra and subhepatic anastomoses to the vena cava. With the piggy-back method, the donor's inferior vena cava is implanted terminolaterally into the recipient's inferior vena cava. The aim of this work was to evaluate results in two matched groups. PATIENTS AND METHODS. From June 1992 to May 1993, 13 patients underwent piggy-back liver transplantation (group 1) and 14 others underwent traditional liver transplantation (group 2). There were 17 men and 10 women, mean age 48 years (range 25-65 years). There was no significant difference between the groups for age, sex, indications, number of rejections and retransplantations. RESULTS. There were no deaths in group 1 and 2 deaths in group 2 within the first 30 days postoperatively. There was no significant difference between groups 1 and 2 for duration of cold ischaemia (552 +/- 323 vs 463 +/- 345 min respectively), the number of packed cell transfusions (9.8 +/- 11 vs 11.1 +/- 5.5), duration of the operation (474 +/- 151 vs 500 +/- 95 min), duration of anastomosis (56 +/- 17 vs 66 +/- 20 min), creatinine levels at day 30 (140 +/- 79 vs 200 +/- 145 min). But there was a significant difference in the anhepatic phase (56 +/- 17 vs 66 +/- 20 min). CONCLUSION. Unexpectedly, there was no significant difference between the two types of transplantation with the exception of the anhepatic phase.