Biliary complications in living donor right hepatectomy are affected by the method of bile duct division.

The bile duct division is a crucial step in the donor hepatectomy. Multiple small ducts will make the biliary reconstruction more difficult and may influence the outcome of the recipient. Biliary leakage, bilomas and biliary strictures are well recognized donor complications that may be directly linked to bile duct division. Biliary division still needs more standardization. This work aims to analyze our experience with two different methods of bile duct division in relation to the development of intraoperative and postoperative biliary complications. Between April 2004 and March 2013, 216 liver donors underwent right hepatectomy, in Gastro-Enterology Surgical Center, Mansoura University, Egypt. According to the method of bile duct division, the study population was divided into 2 groups; 1- extrahepatic dissection group (EDG) and 2- fluoroscopy guided transection group (FGG), each comprised 108 patients. Data were collected from a prospectively registered database, with special emphasis on the occurrence of biliary complications. Complications were classified according to the latest version of Clavien classification. Intraoperative biliary complications did not differ between both groups, p = 0.313. The commonest postoperative complication was biliary leak/biloma accounting for 32.5% of all donor complications, followed by non-biliary fluid collections. 24 (11.1%) donors developed 27 biliary complications. The FGG showed significantly less biliary complications (5.6%, 6 donors), when compared to EDG (15.7%, 18 donors), p = 0.015. Grade 3 complications were significantly higher in EDG, p = 0.024. On multivariate analysis, the only significant factor predicting the occurrence of biliary complications was the use of fluoroscopy guided bile duct division, p = 0.009. In conclusion, we believe that the proposed method of biliary division is safe, simple and reproducible.