Supporting Pediatric Liver Transplants With Precise Flow Measurement

All transplant procedures require extreme precision and skill, but those for pediatric patients are especially delicate and demanding. With tiny blood vessels, sensitive tissues, and rapidly changing physiologic conditions, transplant procedures for smaller patients are inherently more complex.

While the majority of transplant patients are adults, nearly 2,000 children receive organ transplants every year in the United States. About 500 of these procedures are pediatric liver transplants, according to the latest data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) and the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR).

In each and every one of these liver transplant procedures, ensuring stable blood flow through the transplanted liver is critical. For pediatric patients, with their smaller blood vessels and organs, precise measurement is more challenging but all the more critical.

That's why we've developed a range of flow measurement tools designed intentionally to support surgeons caring for transplant patients of all sizes – down to the tiniest children and babies

Challenges in Pediatric Liver Transplant

Over the past decades, pediatric liver transplants have evolved into highly successful procedures with remarkable outcomes and limited mortality thanks to innovations in surgical techniques, organ availability and post-operative care. Options like split-liver grafts and living-related donors ensure more young patients than ever have access to life-saving transplants.

Despite these advancements, pediatric liver transplants are still incredibly complex. Surgeons face unique challenges such as abnormal hepatic hemodynamics and physiology in the transplanted liver, which require careful management to optimize blood flow and graft function.

Monitoring portal venous and hepatic arterial flows is critical in maintaining the stability of the transplanted liver, as each flow parameter affects the liver’s immediate function and long-term viability.

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Flow-Assisted Liver Transplantation

Intraoperative flow measurement with transit-time ultrasound technology during a pediatric liver transplant procedure provides a practical solution to the challenges of abnormal hepatic hemodynamics and physiology in the transplanted liver. Careful monitoring, particularly of blood flow, plays a critical role in the new liver’s survival and patient recovery.

  • Optimal Blood Flow Monitoring: Monitor and verify proper blood flow through the transplanted liver, reducing risks of complications such as graft hyperfusion and low hepatic artery flow.
  • Real-Time Data for Reduced Complications: Access to real-time measurements allows surgeons to make immediate adjustments, particularly in pediatric cases where vessel size and physiology present unique challenges.
  • Improved Graft Survival: Transonic’s tools help ensure adequate hepatic artery patency, which is critical for graft survival.

Precision Tools for All Patients

Transonic’s flow measurement solutions are engineered to deliver exceptional precision in transplant surgeries, offering surgeons real-time, accurate data.

  • Optima Flow-QC Meter: This versatile, universal meter is compatible with all Transonic clinical flowprobes and flowsensors, providing immediate, quantitative flow measurements that help ensure graft patency during surgery.
  • AureFlo: An integrated measurement system, AureFlo enables the surgical care team to visualize live flow waveforms on a touch screen display and save flow data for later analysis.
  • COnfidence Flowprobes: Designed for tight surgical spaces, these flowprobes feature a gentle, non-constrictive fit around vessels. Available in sizes ranging from 36 mm down to 4 mm, they are ideal for pediatric surgeries involving small vessels.
  • Vascular Flowprobes: A short flexible neck makes them ideal for checking for kinks or twists in grafts while confirming operative repair patency. Transonic Microvascular Flowprobes offer similar benefits but are available in sizes down to 0.7 mm – the smallest clinical flowprobes on the market.
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By empowering surgeons with reliable, on-the-spot information, Transonic’s precision tools help surgeons in their decision-making – supporting the highest standards in both pediatric and adult transplant surgeries.

See the difference flow measurement makes for liver transplants.

Learn More

To learn more about using Transonic technology for transplant procedures, browse our resources:

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References
Reduce Allograft Risk With Intraoperative Blood Flow Measurements
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References
Modulation of Graft Vascular Inflow Guided by Flowmetry and Manometry in Liver Transplantation
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References
Intraoperative Blood Flow Measurement During Adult Orthotopic Liver Transplantation
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