Anaesthesia and intensive care for adult liver transplantation

This review describes the preoperative assessment and listing of the patient for liver transplantation and some of the specific perioperative challenges this group of patients present to the anaesthetist. The principles of the early postoperative management in the intensive care unit are discussed as well as some of the signs of early graft dysfunction. Increasingly unwell patients receiving grafts that may come from more marginal donors present significant challenges to the transplant team. The anaesthetist and intensivist play a vital role in determining outcome in the perioperative period.