Chadha, Ryan

Background: Intraoperative cardiac arrest (ICA) has a reported frequency of 1 in 10,000 anesthetics but has a much higher estimated incidence in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT). Single-center studies of ICA in OLT are limited by small sample size that prohibits multivariable regression analysis of risks. METHODS: Utilizing data from 7 academic medical centers, we performed a retrospective, observational study of 5296 adult liver transplant recipients (18–80 years old) between 2000 and 2017 to identify the rate of ICA, associated risk factors, and outcomes. RESULTS: ICA occurred in 196 cases (3.7% 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.2–4.2) and mortality occurred in 62 patients (1.2%). The intraoperative mortality rate was 31.6% in patients who experienced ICA. In a multivariable generalized linear mixed model, ICA was associated with body mass index (BMI) <20 (odds ratio [OR]: 2.04, 95% CI, 1.05–3.98; P = .0386), BMI ≥40 (2.16 [1.12–4.19]; P = .022), Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score: (MELD 30–39: 1.75 [1.09–2.79], P = .02; MELD ≥40: 2.73 [1.53–4.85], P = .001), postreperfusion syndrome (PRS) (3.83 [2.75–5.34], P < .001), living donors (2.13 [1.16–3.89], P = .014), and reoperation (1.87 [1.13–3.11], P = .015). Overall 30-day and 1-year mortality were 4.18% and 11.0%, respectively. After ICA, 30-day and 1-year mortality were 43.9% and 52%, respectively, compared to 2.6% and 9.3% without ICA. CONCLUSIONS: We established a 3.7% incidence of ICA and a 1.2% incidence of intraoperative mortality in liver transplantation and confirmed previously identified risk factors for ICA including BMI, MELD score, PRS, and reoperation and identified new risk factors including living donor and length of surgery in this multicenter retrospective cohort. ICA, while rare, is associated with high intraoperative mortality, and future research must focus on therapy to reduce the incidence of ICA.

The 25th Annual Congress of the International Liver Transplantation Society was held in Toronto, Canada, from May 15 to 18, 2019. Surgeons, hepatologists, anesthesiologists, critical care intensivists, radiologists, pathologists, and research scientists from all over the world came together with the common aim of improving care and outcomes for liver transplant recipients and living donors. Some of the featured topics at this year’s conference included multidisciplinary perioperative care in liver transplantation, worldwide approaches to organ allocation, donor steatosis, and updates in pediatrics, immunology, and radiology. This report presents excerpts and highlights from invited lectures and select abstracts, reviewed and compiled by the Vanguard Committee of International Liver Transplantation Society. This will hopefully contribute to further advances in clinical practice and research in liver transplantation.

The field of abdominal organ transplantation is multifaceted, with the clinician balancing recipient comorbidities, risks of the surgical procedure, and the pathophysiology of immunosuppression to ensure optimal outcomes. An underappreciated element throughout this process is acute pain management related to the surgical procedure. As the opioid epidemic continues to grow with increasing numbers of transplant candidates on opioids as well the increase in the development of enhanced recovery after surgery protocols, there is a need for greater focus on optimal postoperative pain control to minimize opioid use and improve outcomes. This review will summarize the physiology of acute pain in transplant recipients, assess the impact of opioid use on post-transplant outcomes, present evidence supporting nonopioid analgesia in transplant surgery, and briefly address the perioperative approach to the pretransplant recipient on opioids.

Liver grafts from donation after circulatory death (DCD) are a source of organs to decrease wait‐list mortality. While there have been lower rates of graft loss, there are concerns of an increased incidence of intraoperative events in recipients of DCD grafts. We aim to look at the incidence of intraoperative events between recipients of livers from DCD and donation after brain death (DBD) donors. We collected data for 235 DCD liver recipients between 2006 and 2017. We performed a 1:1 propensity match between these patients and patients with DBD donors. Variables included recipient age, liver disease etiology, biological Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, allocation MELD score, diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma, and year of transplantation. DCD and DBD groups had no significant differences in incidence of postreperfusion syndrome (P = 0.75), arrhythmia requiring cardiopulmonary resuscitation (P = 0.66), and treatments for hyperkalemia (P = 0.84). In the DCD group, there was a significant increase in amount of total intraoperative and postreperfusion blood products (with exception of postreperfusion packed red blood cells) utilized (P < 0.05 for all products), significant differences in postreperfusion thromboelastography parameters, as well as inotropes and vasopressors used (P < 0.05 for all infusions). There was no difference in patient (P = 0.49) and graft survival (P = 0.10) at 1, 3, and 5 years. In conclusion, DCD grafts compared with a cohort of DBD grafts have a similar low incidence of major intraoperative events, but increased incidence of transient vasopressor/inotropic usage and increased blood transfusion requirements. This does not result in differences in longterm outcomes. While centers should continue to look at DCD liver donors, they should be cognizant regarding intraoperative care to prevent adverse outcomes.

Liver transplantation is a complex procedure performed on critically ill patients with multiple comorbidities, which requires the anesthesiologist to be facile with complex hemodynamics and physiology, vascular access procedures, and advanced monitoring. Over the past decade, there has been a continuing debate whether or not liver transplant anesthesia is a general or specialist practice. Yet, as significant data have come out in support of dedicated liver transplant anesthesia teams, there is not a guarantee of liver transplant exposure in domestic residencies. In addition, there are no standards for what competencies are required for an individual seeking fellowship training in liver transplant anesthesia. Using the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education guidelines for residency training as a model, the Society for the Advancement of Transplant Anesthesia Fellowship Committee in conjunction with the Liver Transplant Anesthesia Fellowship Task Force has developed the first proposed standardized core competencies and milestones for fellowship training in liver transplant anesthesiology.

The 24th Joint Annual Congress of the International Liver Transplantation Society in association with European Liver and Intestine Transplant Association and Liver Intensive Care Group of Europe was held in Lisbon, Portugal from May 23 to 26, 2018. More than 1200 participants from over 60 countries including surgeons, hepatologists, anesthesiologists and critical care intensivists, radiologists, pathologists, organ procurement personnel, and research scientists came together with the common aim of improving care and outcomes for liver transplant recipients. Over 600 scientific abstracts were presented. The principal themes were living donation, use of marginal liver donors, machine preservation, disease-specific immunosuppressive regimen, malignancies, and advances in pediatric liver transplantation and liver transplant anesthesia. This report presents excerpts from invited lectures and select abstracts from scientific sessions, which add to current knowledge, and will drive clinical practice and future research.