Abdominal wall transplantation (AWT) was introduced in 1999 in the context of reconstruction of complex abdominal wall defects in conjunction with visceral organ transplantation. As of recently, 38 cases of total AWT have been performed worldwide, about half of which were performed in the United States. While AWT is technically feasible, one of the major challenges presenting to the reconstructive surgeon is time to revascularization of the donor abdominal wall (AW), given the immediate proximity of the visceral organ and AWT. The authors report a novel AW revascularization technique during a synchronous small bowel and AWT in a 37-year-old man.
Keywords: anatomy; clinical research/practice; intestine/multivisceral transplantation; tissue/organ engineering; translational research/science; vascularized composite and reconstructive transplantation.
© 2019 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.