How the Database Works 

The SATA Liver Database is built on a standardized data dictionary shared across participating centers. Centers can deploy the database through a provided REDCap template or adapt existing local databases to align with the standardized variable definitions. The database allows prospective data collection but can also incorporate retrospective data from past cases.

Each center’s data is enriched with donor and recipient information from the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) once per year. Centers may opt-in to share de-identified datasets with UCSF, the data-coordinating center, and contribute to the multicenter research consortium.

All centers participating in the consortium abide by bylaws governing data sharing, requests, and authorship, ensuring transparency and collaboration.

What is the SATA Liver Database?

The SATA Liver Database addresses a critical gap in liver transplant anesthesia research: the lack of a standardized infrastructure for collecting and sharing perioperative data across centers. While national organizations collect patient and graft survival data, they do not capture detailed perioperative data essential for outcomes research. Some transplant centers have developed individual databases, but data sharing is often hindered by inconsistent variables, different definitions, and administrative barriers.

We developed the Society for the Advancement of Transplant Anesthesia (SATA) Liver Transplant Anesthesia Outcomes Database to overcome these challenges and promote multicenter collaboration.

Target Population

Adult Liver Transplant Recipients 

Purpose

The SATA Liver Database aims to provide insights into anesthesia practices across centers, such as transfusion strategies, monitoring methods, and intraoperative management during liver transplants. These insights will establish practice patterns and help generate knowledge about outcomes on a national scale.

Approved Research Projects

Our database supports observational studies to answer important questions about liver transplant outcomes. Current projects include:

  • To define the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) after liver transplantation in a national cohort.

  • Evaluating the impact of machine perfusion on intra- and perioperative outcomes.

  • To study practice patterns of early extubation in a national cohort.