Use of an interpositional venous graft posterior to the pancreas for LDLT patients with portal vein thrombosis.

Portal vein thrombosis is a risk factor in patients who require liver transplantation, because it is often difficult to treat portal vein thrombosis, especially when it involves the confluence of the superior mesenteric vein and splenic vein. Since some transplant centers that perform living-donor liver transplantation do not have cryopreserved cadaveric vein grafts available and do not use graft veins that are long enough for a jump graft, it is difficult to reconstruct the portal vein with interpositional vein grafts in patients with portal vein thrombosis. We describe the treatment of portal vein thrombosis with an interpositional vascular graft posterior to the pancreas in a living-donor liver transplantation patient without using a jump graft. This method provided a shorter rout between the donor and recipient portal vein than a jump graft. Our experience suggests that this solution can be helpful in treating portal vein thrombosis.