BACKGROUND: Right lobar living donor living transplantation (LDLT) has been controversial because of widely differing reports of recipient morbidity. Herein, we present our nearly 10-year experience and identify factors that potentially could be modified to improve recipient outcome.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The Clavien 5-tier grading system was applied retrospectively in 196 consecutive adult right lobar recipients. We determined the incidence of potentially life- threatening (Grade III), actually life-threatening (Grade IV), and lethal (Grade V) complications during the first post-transplant year. The most serious and seminal complication was considered if simultaneous or multiple complications appeared.

RESULTS: One-year recipient/graft survival was 82%/82%. Within the first year, 68 (34.69%) of the 196 recipients had Grade III (n=31), Grade IV (n=7), or Grade V (n=30) complications. The complications were 19.90% graft-related and 15.82% non-graft-related. Complications during the first half year did not decline with increased team experience over time and adversely affected recipients’ long-term survival, albeit not significantly. According to univariate analysis, high Child-Pugh scores before transplantation (P=0.016), prolonged ICU-stay (P=0.003) and hospitalization time (P=0.032) after transplantation were found to be risk factors for the appearance of ≥ Clavien III complications, while duct-to-duct biliary reconstruction (P=0.02) had a beneficial role in reducing serious complications after LDLTs.

CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, serious complications during the first post-transplant year shortened recipient survival and prolonged primary hospitalization duration and postoperative ICU-stay, which is more frequent in recipients with higher Child-Pugh scores and in those with hepaticojejunostomy.

Keywords: Recipient, complication, Clavien, right lobe, living donor liver transplantation, Follow-Up Studies, Graft Survival, Hepatectomy, Incidence, Liver Diseases, Liver Transplantation, Living Donors, Morbidity, Postoperative Complications, Risk Factors, Severity of Illness Index, young adult