Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. May 21, 2022; 28(19): 2057-2075
Published online May 21, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i19.2057
Clinical significance of variant hepatic artery in pancreatic resection: A comprehensive review
Ye-Cheng Xu, Feng Yang, De-Liang Fu
Ye-Cheng Xu, Feng Yang, Department of Pancreatic Surgery, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai 200040, China
De-Liang Fu, Department of Pancreatic Surgery, Pancreatic Disease Institute, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai 200040, China
Author contributions: Xu YC contributed to data acquisition, drafting the article, and final approval of the version to be published; Yang F contributed to the conception and design of this paper, data acquisition, drafting and revising the article, and final approval of the version to be published; Fu DL contributed to the conception and design of this paper, and final approval of it.
Supported by National Key R&D Program of China (Dr Yang), No. 2017YFC1308604.
Conflict-of-interest statement: We declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Feng Yang, MD, PhD, Associate Chief Physician, Associate Professor, Department of Pancreatic Surgery, Huashan Hospital, No. 12 Central Urumqi Road, Shanghai 200040, China. yffudan98@126.com
Received: January 3, 2022
Peer-review started: January 3, 2022
First decision: March 10, 2022
Revised: March 16, 2022
Accepted: April 9, 2022
Article in press: April 9, 2022
Published online: May 21, 2022
Processing time: 134 Days and 4.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Variations in hepatic artery anatomy are not rare during pancreatic surgery and have a significant impact on planning and performance of the procedure. Inadvertent intraoperative injury to hepatic artery may affect liver perfusion and result in ischemic complications. Detailed knowledge and awareness of its anatomical variants are critical, and thorough pre- and intraoperative planning is important to prevent hepatic hypoperfusion. This article comprehensively reviews the hepatic artery anatomy and variations, highlights its impact on surgical and oncological outcomes after pancreatic resection, and discusses prevention and management of hepatic artery injury and liver hypoperfusion.