Justification for routine intensive care after liver transplantation

Fast-Track Liver Transplantation: Six-year Prospective Cohort Study with an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Protocol

Introduction

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) has been shown to facilitate discharge, decrease length of stay, improve outcomes and reduce costs. We used this concept to design a comprehensive fast-track pathway (OR-to-discharge) before starting our liver transplant activity and then applied this protocol prospectively to every patient undergoing liver transplantation at our institution, monitoring the results periodically. We now report our first six years results.

Patients and methods

Prospective cohort study of all the liver transplants performed at our institution for the first six years. Balanced general anesthesia, fluid restriction, thromboelastometry, inferior vena cava preservation and temporary portocaval shunt were strategies common to all cases. Standard immunosuppression administered included steroids, tacrolimus (delayed in the setting of renal impairment, with basiliximab induction added) and mycophenolate mofetil. Tacrolimus dosing was adjusted using a Bayesian estimation methodology. Oral intake and ambulation were started early.

Results

A total of 240 transplants were performed in 236 patients (191♂/45♀) over 74 months, mean age 56.3±9.6 years, raw MELD score 15.5±7.7. Predominant etiologies were alcohol (n = 136) and HCV (n = 82), with hepatocellular carcinoma present in 129 (54.7%). Nine patients received combined liver and kidney transplants. The mean operating time was 315±64 min with cold ischemia times of 279±88 min. Thirty-one patients (13.1%) were transfused in the OR (2.4±1.2 units of PRBC). Extubation was immediate (< 30 min) in all but four patients. Median ICU length of stay was 12.7 hours, and median post-transplant hospital stay was 4 days (2-76) with 30 patients (13.8%) going home by day 2, 87 (39.9%) by day 3, and 133 (61%) by day 4, defining our fast-track group. Thirty-day-readmission rate (34.9%) was significantly lower (28.6% vs. 44.7% p=0.015) in the fast-track group. Patient survival was 86.8% at 1 year and 78.6% at five years.

Conclusion

Fast-Tracking of Liver Transplant patients is feasible and can be applied as the standard of care

Variability in intensive care unit length of stay after liver transplant: Determinants and potential opportunities for improvement

PURPOSE

Recovery after liver transplant (LT) requires extensive resources, including prolonged intensive care unit stays. The objective of this study was to use an assessment tool to determine if LT recipients remain in ICU beyond designated indications.

METHODS

Records from 100 consecutive LTs performed in a single institution were retrospectively reviewed. An admission, discharge, and triage screening (ADT) tool was utilized to assess the indications for each ICU day. Data collected included demographics; pre-, intra-, and post-operative course; and complications. Days not meeting ADT criteria were considered additional ICU days.

RESULTS

100 patients: mean age 55 years (range 24-78 years) and mean MELD score 30 (range 6-47). Three recipients who died within one week were excluded. Forty-eight (49.5%) patients had a total of 75 additional days on initial ICU stay. Univariate analysis revealed no significant differences between patients with and without additional days. 12/97 (12.4%) patients returned to ICU including 5/48 and 7/49 with and without additional days.

CONCLUSION

Nearly half of the LT recipients remained in ICU an average of 1.6 additional days. Monitoring of organ function appeared to be the most common reason. Opportunities to improve resource utilization could include transfer to an intermediate/progressive care ("step-down") unit.

Transplant Critical Care: Is there a Need for Sub-specialized Units? - A Perspective

The critical care involved in solid-organ transplantation (SOT) is complex. Pre-, intra- and post-transplant care can significantly impact both – patients’ ability to undergo SOT and their peri-operative morbidity and mortality. Much of the care necessary for medical optimization of end-stage organ failure (ESOF) patients to qualify and then successfully undergo SOT, and the management of peri-operative and/or long-term complications thereafter occurs in an intensive care unit (ICU) setting. The current literature specific to critical care in abdominal SOT patients was reviewed. This paper provides a contemporary perspective on the potential multifactorial advantages of sub-specialized transplant critical care units in providing efficient, comprehensive, and collaborative multidisciplinary care.

Rapid Recovery of Liver Transplantation Recipients by Implementation of Fast-Track Care Steps: What Is Holding Us Back?

A body of scientific studies has shown that early extubation is safe and cost-effective in a large number of liver transplant (LT) recipients including pediatric patients. However, fast-track practices are not universally accepted, and debate still lingers about whether these interventions are safe and serve the patients' best interest. In this article, we focus on reasons why physicians still have a persistent, although diminishing, reluctance to adopt fast-track protocols. We stress the importance of collection/analysis of perioperative data, adoption of a consensus-based standardized protocol for perioperative care, and formation of LT anesthesia focused teams and leadership. We conclude that the practice of early extubation and fast-tracking after LT surgery could help improve anesthesia performance, safety, and cost-effectiveness.

Perioperative Care of the Liver Transplant Patient

With the evolution of surgical and anesthetic techniques, liver transplantation has become "routine," allowing for modifications of practice to decrease perioperative complications and costs. There is debate over the necessity for intensive care unit admission for patients with satisfactory preoperative status and a smooth intraoperative course. Postoperative care is made easier when the liver graft performs optimally. Assessment of graft function, vigilance for complications after the major surgical insult, and optimization of multiple systems affected by liver disease are essential aspects of postoperative care. The intensivist plays a vital role in an integrated multidisciplinary transplant team.

Octogenarian donors in liver transplantation grant an equivalent perioperative course to ideal young donors

BACKGROUND

Use of grafts from very old donors for liver transplantation is controversial.

AIM

To compare the perioperative course of patients receiving liver grafts from young ideal vs octogenarian donors.

METHODS

Analysis of the perioperative course of patients receiving liver grafts from young, ideal (18-39 years) vs octogenarian (≥80years) deceased donors between 2001 and 2014.

RESULTS

346 patients were studied: 179 (51.7%) received grafts aged 18-39 years whereas 167 (48.3%) received a graft from a donor aged ≥80years. Intra-operative cardiovascular (p=0.2), coagulopathy (p=0.5) and respiratory (p=1.0) complications and incidence of reperfusion syndrome (p=0.3) were similar. Patients receiving a young graft required more fresh frozen plasma units (p≤0.03) but did not differ for the need of packed red cells (p=0.2) and platelet (p=0.3) transfusions. Median ICU stay was identical (p=0.4). Patients receiving octogenarian vs young grafts did not differ in terms of death or re-transplant (p=1.0) during the ICU stay. Similar cardiovascular, respiratory, renal, infectious and neurological postoperative complication rates were observed in the two groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Octogenarian donors in liver transplantation grant an equivalent perioperative course to ideal young donors.