Short and Long Term Complications after Pediatric Liver Transplantation: A Review and Literature

Background: Pediatric liver transplant is a complex surgical procedure. Pediatric liver transplantation has evolved over the last two decades into an effective and widely accepted therapy for infants and children. The aim of our report is to review the current state of knowledge and explore the incidence of complications, the involved pathogens among liver recipients to determine the effective strategies for preventing complications. Materials and Methods: The literature research was conducted in EMBASE, Medline, PubMed, Scopus, ISI Web of Science, and Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar; were searched from January 1984 to January 2016. The following keywords were used: Liver transplantation, Pediatric, Risk factors, Complication and Children. Results: The main complications after pediatric liver transplantation were: infections (51.4%) and surgical complications including [biliary complications (41.2%), and postoperative bleeding (27%)]. In general, vascular complications were seen in 35% of children. Conclusion: Infections and biliary complications were the most common outcome occurring in children after LT. Advances in post-transplant care and monitoring of the recipients, technical refinements enable the better results.