Outcomes of Donors in Living Donor Liver Transplantation: Effect of Strict Donor Selection Criteria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66984/jsmdc.v12.i01.oa.10Keywords:
Living donors, Hepatectomy, Postoperative complications, Patient selection, Length of stayAbstract
Objective: To evaluate the effect of strict institutional donor selection criteria on short term safety outcomes among living liver donors undergoing hepatectomy.
Methodology: This retrospective cross-sectional study on 140 living liver donor records was conducted in the Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) and Liver Transplant Surgery at Bahria International Hospital, Orchard, Lahore. The study was carried out from January to March 2026 after obtaining institutional ethical approval. Donors were evaluated by a multidisciplinary team and selected through a structured protocol that included clinical, biochemical, radiological, and psychosocial evaluations. Acceptable graft parameters included graft-to-recipient weight ratio (GRWR) ≥0.8 and future liver remnant (FLR) ≥30%. Those with significant comorbidities, fatty liver, abnormal liver function tests, and fibrosis were not selected for donation. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29.
Results: The mean age of donors was 27.0±4.7 years with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 24.0±2.4 kg/m². The mean length of hospital stay was 5.0±0.7 days. Overall, early postoperative complications occurred in 3(2.1%) donors, including bile leak in 2(1.4%) cases and wound infection in 1(0.7%) case. No donor mortality was observed. Donors who developed early complications had a significantly longer hospital stay compared with those without complications (6.67±0.58 days vs 4.98±0.62 days, p <0.001).
Conclusion: The use of a meticulous donor selection protocol, combined with a multidisciplinary assessment, was associated with low complication rates, shorter hospital stays, and no donor mortality.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Sharif Medical & Dental College is licensed and distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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