©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Sep 27, 2017; 9(9): 186-192
Published online Sep 27, 2017. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v9.i9.186
Published online Sep 27, 2017. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v9.i9.186
Role of “reduced-size” liver/bowel grafts in the “abdominal wall transplantation” era
Augusto Lauro, Liver and Multiorgan Transplant Unit, St Orsola University Hospital, 40138 Bologna, Italy
Anil Vaidya, Department of Transplant Surgery, Oxford University Hospital, Oxford OX3 7LE, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Lauro A and Vaidya A equally contributed in designing, performing, analyzing and writing the minireview.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with any of the author contributing to this manuscript.
Correspondence to: Augusto Lauro, MD, PhD, Attending Surgeon of the Liver and Multiorgan Transplant Unit, St. Orsola University Hospital-Alma Mater Studiorum, 40138 Bologna, Italy. augusto.lauro@aosp.bo.it
Telephone: +39-51-2143721
Received: January 16, 2017
Peer-review started: January 18, 2017
First decision: March 6, 2017
Revised: March 24, 2017
Accepted: July 7, 2017
Article in press: July 10, 2017
Published online: September 27, 2017
Processing time: 252 Days and 12.2 Hours
Peer-review started: January 18, 2017
First decision: March 6, 2017
Revised: March 24, 2017
Accepted: July 7, 2017
Article in press: July 10, 2017
Published online: September 27, 2017
Processing time: 252 Days and 12.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Matching donors with recipients to perform liver-bowel transplantation is a challenging task, especially in front of pediatric candidates due to the shortage of suitable donors. Historically, the issue was overcome reducing the size of liver and bowel during donation in order to implant the combined graft in the small abdominal cavity of the recipient. Due to the presence of complications, the procedure has been improved by enlarging the abdominal cavity of the recipients, initially through conventional techniques used in hernia repair or trauma surgery and later by transplanting the donor abdominal wall into the recipient. Results are encouraging but limited to high experienced centers.