Reconstruction of the hepatic artery using the gastroduodenal artery

Although injury of the hepatic artery is not common during the performance of biliary and pancreatic resections, the hepatic artery if involved by tumor extension can be injured during its dissection. Several methods for reconstruction of the hepatic artery have been described and although each technique is applicable in a specific situation, autologous tissue conduits are preferable in contaminated operative fields. We report here another transposition technique to reconstruct the proper hepatic artery using the gastroduodenal artery, which may provide a local autologous artery for repair of hepatic artery damage during pancreaticoduodenectomy. (C) 2003 Excerpta Medica, Inc. All rights reserved.