Effect of graft size matching on pediatric living‐donor liver transplantation at a single center

We retrospectively analyzed 252 patients with end‐stage liver disease who had undergone LDLT from January 2009 to September 2015. Of these, 25 had a GRWR of <2.0% (Group A), 204 had a GRWR of ≥2.0% or <4.0% (Group B), and 23 had a GRWR ≥4.0% (Group C). The three GRWR groups demonstrated similar characteristics, except for recipient age and recipient BMI . The overall 1‐, 2‐, and 3‐year graft survival rates were 95.1%, 93.5%, and 93.5%, respectively. However, among the three groups, graft survival rates at 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years were significantly different ( P  =   .0009). Hepatic artery stenosis/thrombosis was more frequently observed in Group C than in Groups A and B ( P  =   .001). Wound infection was also more frequently observed in Group C than in Group A and B ( P  =   .002). However, intestinal fistula/bile leakage/biliary‐enteric anastomotic fistula was more frequently observed in Group A than in Groups B and C ( P  =   .001). In addition, reoperation more frequently occurred in Group A and C than in Group B ( P  =   .001). Recipients with a GRWR between 2.0% and 4.0% had significantly better graft survival rates.