Objective: To analyse the common causes of unsuccessful orthotopic liver transplantation in rats, and provide an appropriate treatment strategy.
Methods: Over a period of 10 months, orthotopic liver transplantation model was performed by modified Kamada two-cuff technique in 150 rats. Completion of a set of 50 consecutive cases was regarded as an experimental stage, so the whole experimental course was partitioned into three stages: early, middle and late stage. The causes of transplantation failure in each stage were analyzed separately and summarized.
Results: In the early stage, the major causes leading to failure of rat orthotopic liver transplantation were pneumothorax (5.8%), intraoperative bleeding (10.6%), and exended anhepatic phase (50.4%), while those in the middle and late stage were failed anastomosis of suprahepatic inferior vena cava (21.0%), extended anhepatic phase (20.6%), failed anastomosis of portal vein and infrahepatic inferior vena cava (17.6%), and failed bile duct reconstruction (5.6%).
Conclusion: There are many causes of unsuccessful orthotopic liver transplantation in rats, among which, the anhepatic phase is the most critical factor affecting the results. Timely identification of the causes of unsuccessful transplantation and finding the appropriate solutions are helpful to the novice operators.