Abstract
BACKGROUND: Systemic anticoagulation after pediatric liver transplantation (pLT) is believed to reduce the incidence of vascular thrombosis, but it may also cause an increase in hemorrhagic complications. PROCEDURE: A 5-year retrospective review of pLT done at our institution was performed (2014-2018). The occurrence of early hemorrhagic and thrombotic complications was compared when using low-dose or high-dose anticoagulation after transplant (p < .05 considered significant). results: sixty-nine patients received 73 transplants during the study period. median age at transplant was 2.3 years (40 days to 18.5 years). low-dose anticoagulation was utilized in 71% cases. additionally, six patients were converted from low-dose to high-dose anticoagulation because of a thrombotic event or concerns for suboptimal vascular inflow. postoperative anticoagulation was discontinued in 18 occurrences due to bleeding (low dose 19%, high dose 47% vs. low dose to high dose 17%, p =" .085)." surgical take back for bleeding occurred in 17 occasions (low dose 13.5%, high dose 53% vs. low dose to high dose 33%, p =" .005)." the overall incidence of hepatic artery thrombosis (hat) and portal vein thrombosis were each 5.5%, respectively. while patient survival was not statistically different between groups, graft survival was significantly lower in the high-dose group (low dose 93%, high dose 73% vs. low dose to high dose 100%, p =" .046)." however, graft losses from hat were similar between groups (low dose 2%, high dose 7% vs. low dose to high dose 0%, p =" .56)." conclusion: the use of a standardized risk-adjusted anticoagulation protocol after plt is associated with a low occurrence of thrombotic and hemorrhagic complications. high-dose anticoagulation leads to more bleeding, but those risks outweigh the risks of possible graft loss.>
