intensive care of patient with two-stage liver transplantation- case report

A two-stage liver transplantation is a procedure where total hepatectomy is followed by temporary anastomosis of the vena portae with the inferior vena cava. It was shown to be successful as a bridge procedure in patients who are awaiting emergency liver transplantation.  The most common complications of the anhepatic phase are renal failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), hypoglicaemia, hypothermia, gastrointestinal bleeding, coagulopathy, liver encephalopaty, sepsis and multiorgan failure.  The patient in anhepatic phase needs to be treated in a qualified intensive care unit. We report a case of the first succesful two-stage liver transplantation in Slovenia in a 65-year old male whose cause of hepatic failure was alcohol cirrhosis.