Short and long term complications after pediatric liver transplantation: A review and literature

Abstract

Background Pediatric liver transplant (PLT) is a complex surgical procedure. Pediatric liver transplantation has evolved over the last two decades into an effective and widely accepted therapy for infants and children. We aimed to review the short and long term complications after oediatric liver transplantation. Materials and Methods The literature research was conducted in EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar; were searched from January 1984 to January 2016. The following keywords were used: Liver transplantation, Pediatric Liver transplantation, Risk factors, Complication, and Mortality. Results The main complications after pediatric liver transplantation were: infections (51.4) and surgical complications including (biliary complications 41.2%, and postoperative bleeding 27%). In general, vascular complications were observed in 35% of studied children. Conclusion Infections and biliary complications were the most common outcome occurring in children after LT. Advances in post-transplant care and monitoring of the recipients, technical refinements enable the better results