Temporary Abdominal Closure Technique After Pediatric Liver Transplant: Single-Center Experience.

Objectives: Primary abdominal wound closure is performed at the completion of liver transplant in most patients. However, this is not always possible in pediatric recipients. The shortage of size-matched donor organs for pediatric patients means that occasionally it is necessary to use whole livers that are larger than can be accommodated comfortably in the child's abdomen. The present report outlines our experience with temporary patch closure after pediatric liver transplant of the abdominal wall.

Materials And Methods: Our team performed the first liver transplant in Turkey in 1988. Since 1988, we have performed 629 liver transplant (336 adult and 293 pediatric) procedures at our center. We evaluated data of 191 liver transplants performed in recipients who were under 10 years of age. Left lateral lobe grafts were used in 169 patients (88%), and whole grafts were used in 22 patients (12%).

Results: Temporary closure with the Bogota bag patch was necessary in 31 transplant procedures (16.2%), 3 of which involved whole livers and 28 of which involved left lateral lobe grafts. The age range of recipients was 5 months to 10 years (median, 30 mo). The temporary abdominal closure technique was preferred in 22 patients because the abdomen could not be closed during surgery.

Conclusions: In pediatric patients with difficult abdominal closure after liver transplant, temporary patch closure is the treatment of choice. Our preference has been reinforced silicone sheeting, which allows minimal adhesion formation between the patch and abdominal viscera; in addition, the transparent nature of the material provides a window for inspection of the donor liver.