Clamping the supra-celiac aorta can effectively increase the success rate of orthotopic rat liver transplantation by increasing the tolerable time of the anhepatic phase

BACKGROUND: Although using a Kamada model with a cuff approach for vascular anastomosis shortens the anhepatic time in orthotopic rat liver transplantation (ORLT), cardiac arrest is still often encountered during the anhepatic phase. We hypothesize that low cardiac output is the reason for this. In this study, we used the supra-celiac aorta clamp (SCAC) method during the anhepatic phase in ORLT to evaluate the success rate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Spraque-Dawley rats were used in this the study. First, we tested the time between the clamping of the supra-hepatic inferior vena cava (IVC) clamped and cardiac arrest in between two groups according to whether SCAC was performed (n = 40) or not (n = 20). Clamping of the supra-hepatic IVC was performed 30 s or 1 min after SCAC (n = 20 for each) in the SCAC group. Second, we performed the Kamada method for ORLT in two groups according to whether SCAC was performed (n = 20, 1-min SCAC) or not (n = 20). Successful ORLT was defined as a recipient rat surviving more then 5 days. RESULTS: The mean time between IVC clamping and cardiac arrest was longer in the group of 1-min SCAC group than in the 30-s SCAC group or without SCAC (19.8 versus 11.45 versus 3.87 min, respectively, P < 0.001). The success rate of ORLT was higher in the SCAC group than in the group without SCAC (85% versus 15%, respectively, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: SCAC can effectively increase the success rate of ORLT by increasing the tolerable time during the anhepatic phase. The reason for this is the avoidance of hypovolumic cardiac arrest during the anhepatic phase.