Lactated Ringer's solution versus normal saline in pediatric living‐donor liver transplantation: A matched retrospective cohort study

Background In pediatric living‐donor liver transplantation, lactated Ringer's solution and normal saline are commonly used for intraoperative fluid management, but the comparative clinical outcomes remain uncertain. Aims To compare the effect between lactated Ringer's solution and normal saline for intraoperative volume replacement on clinical outcomes among pediatric living‐donor liver transplantation patients. Methods This single‐center, retrospective trial study enrolled children who received either lactated Ringer's solution or normal saline during living‐donor liver transplantation between January 2010 and August 2016. The groups with comparable clinical characteristics were balanced by propensity score matching. The primary outcome was 90‐day all‐cause mortality, and the secondary outcomes included early allograft dysfunction, primary nonfunction, acute renal injury, and hospital‐free days (days alive postdischarge within 30 days of liver transplantation). Results We included 333 pediatric patients who met the entry criteria for analysis. Propensity score matching identified 61 patients in each group. After matching, the lactated Ringer's solution group had a higher 90‐day mortality rate than the normal saline group (11.5% vs. 0.0%). Early allograft dysfunction and primary nonfunction incidences were also more frequent in the lactated Ringer's solution group (19.7% and 11.5%, respectively) than in the normal saline group (3.3% and 0.0%, respectively). In the lactated Ringer's solution group, four (6.6%) recipients developed acute renal injury within 7 days postoperatively compared with three (4.9%) recipients in the normal saline group. Hospital‐free days did not differ between groups (9 days [1–13] vs. 9 days [0–12]). Conclusions For intraoperative fluid management in pediatric living‐donor liver transplantation patients, lactated Ringer's solution administration was associated with a higher 90‐day mortality rate than normal saline. This finding has important implications for selecting crystalloid in pediatric living‐donor liver transplantation. Further randomized clinical trials in larger cohort are necessary to confirm this finding.