Accidental Hepatic Artery Ligation in Humans.

CCIDENTAL INTERRUPTION of the hepatic A artery or one of its branches is a feared surgicaI compIication. AIthough vascuIar repair may be feasibIe, the in jury is frequentIy so extensive that arteriaI reconstruction is not possibIe. In this situation, accurate knowIedge of the consequences of Iigation of the hepatic artery wouId be desirabIe. In the dog and other experimentaI animaIs, hepatic arteriaI Iigation has been we11 toIerated if antibiotics are given. SimiIar information is not avaiIabIe for the human. The Iast comprehensive survey of accidentaI hepatic artery Iigation in the human was by Graham and CanneII [I] in 1933. Their review indicated that a mortaIity of approximateIy 60 per cent couId be expected. The present report documents five cases of injury to the common hepatic or right hepatic artery. ArteriaI reconstruction was impossibIe in four of the patients. In addition, the cases of Iigation of the hepatic artery reported since 1933 have been compiIed with particuIar atten-