Role of interventional radiology in paediatric liver transplantation

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Interventional radiology advances have rendered it attainable to treat many of the complications of liver disease in a minimally invasive manner, and they play a major role in liver transplantation. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the role of interventional radiology in a cohort of paediatric liver transplant patients. METHODS: Thirteen paediatric patients underwent liver transplantations from July 2020–February 2023 at Colombo-North Teaching Hospital, Ragama. Seven patients (53.84%) required special interventional radiological procedures. The need for an interventional radiological procedure was decided by a multidisciplinary team. A retrospective database was maintained with demographic and liver transplant data. RESULTS: Four patients (57.14%) requiring radiological intervention underwent procedures involving the thoracic cavity, and 5 patients (71.42%) who required radiological intervention underwent procedures involving the abdominal cavity. Two patients (28.57%) out of the seven who had interventional radiological procedures went through both abdominal and thoracic radiological interventions. As abdominal radiological interventions, splenic artery embolization (20%), hepatic venous stenting (20%), subhepatic drain placement (20%), and two abdominal pigtail drain insertions (40%) have been done. Four patients underwent pigtail insertion, which was performed as a thoracic radiological intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Interventional radiology plays a crucial role in the management of paediatric post-liver transplantation patients