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World J Hepatol. Jul 27, 2022; 14(7): 1344-1356
Published online Jul 27, 2022. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v14.i7.1344
Alfapump® implantable device in management of refractory ascites: An update
Delphine Weil-Verhoeven, Vincent Di Martino, Guido Stirnimann, Jean Paul Cervoni, Eric Nguyen-Khac, Thierry Thévenot
Delphine Weil-Verhoeven, Vincent Di Martino, Jean Paul Cervoni, Thierry Thévenot, Service d’Hépatologie Et Soins Intensifs Digestifs, CHRU Jean Minjoz, Besançon 25030, France
Delphine Weil-Verhoeven, Vincent Di Martino, Thierry Thévenot, EA 4266 EPILAB, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Besançon 25030, France
Guido Stirnimann, Department of Visceral Surgery and Medicine, Inselspital University Hospital and University of Bern, Bern 3010, Switzerland
Eric Nguyen-Khac, Service d’Hépato-Gastroentérologie, CHU Amiens-Picardie, Amiens 80080, France
Author contributions: Weil-Verhoeven D designed the research and wrote the paper; Weil-Verhoeven D and Thévenot T analyzed the data; Thévenot T, Di Martino V, Stirnimann G, Cervoni J-P, and Nguyen-Khac E made critical revisions related to important content of the revised manuscript; Weil-Verhoeven D, Thévenot T, Di Martino V, Stirnimann G, Cervoni J-P, and Nguyen-Khac E provided the final approval of the version to be published.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Stirnimann G has received support for travel and meeting attendance, served as a speaker, and participated in Advisory Boards for Sequana Medical. There is no conflict of interest associated with any of the senior author or other coauthors contributed their efforts in this manuscript.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Delphine Weil-Verhoeven, MD, PhD, Doctor, Service d’Hépatologie Et Soins Intensifs Digestifs, CHRU Jean Minjoz, 3 Boulevard Fleming, Besançon 25030, France. dweil@chu-besancon.fr
Received: March 31, 2022
Peer-review started: March 31, 2022
First decision: May 12, 2022
Revised: May 30, 2022
Accepted: June 27, 2022
Article in press: June 27, 2022
Published online: July 27, 2022
Processing time: 118 Days and 5.6 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: The alfapump® system (Sequana Medical, Ghent, Belgium) is a subcutaneous implantable device that allows the transfer of ascites from the peritoneal cavity to the bladder. In this review, we describe the practical aspects of the alfapump® device implantation, and discuss its effectiveness and safety as a treatment for refractory ascites in cirrhotic patients, based on the most recently published data.