Liver transplantation is a complex medical procedure with extremely high technical requirements. It demands rigorous expertises from the transplant surgeons, particularly in the vascular and biliary reconstruction using microsurgical techniques. In China, organ transplantation training started relatively late, and current training for liver transplantation surgeons faces deficiencies in the practical opportunities, simulation training combined with hands-on experience, and scientific evaluation standards, etc. Improving the teaching quality primarily depends on addressing challenges in microsurgical training. Therefore, it is imperative to establish a systematic and standardized microsurgical training system. The Liver Transplant Center of West China Hospital, Sichuan University, had proposed a comprehensive microsurgical training program that integrated various training methods, including non-biological models, virtual reality systems, biological models, and clinical mentorship, alongside objective evaluation criteria to ensure trainees acquire essential microsurgical skills for liver transplantation. By implementing a phased and progressive training approach, combining theoretical knowledge with practical application, and adhering to standardized operational protocols and assessment mechanisms, this program effectively enhances surgeons’ technical proficiency and decision-making abilities. This innovative solution addresses critical challenges in current training, driving the implementation and continuous improvement of liver transplantation training systems.
Living donor liver transplantation is one of the main solutions to the organ supply-demand discrepancy at present. However, there was a risk of the recipient developing small-for-size syndrome due to insufficient graft volume, while an excessively large graft volume for donation might lead to postoperative liver failure for the donor. In this context, the dual-graft liver transplantation had emerged, which could minimize the volume of liver resection from the each donor to ensure the donor’s safety and provide the adequate volume of liver for the recipient. Yet, this procedure is less commonly performed in our country. In order to promote the steady implementation of dual-graft liver transplantation in China and serve as an important supplement to the donor pool, the West China Hospital of Sichuan University organized relevant experts and draw on the mature experiences of advanced countries in the field of transplantation jointly formulated the “Expert consensus on dual-graft liver transplantation”. The consensus had been developed around aspects such as donor evaluation and selection, surgical methods, and postoperative complications.