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BACKGROUND Studies suggested that remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) may effectively lessen the harmful effects of ischemia reperfusion injury during organ transplantation surgery. AIM To investigate the protective effects of RIPC on living liver donors and recipients following pediatric liver transplantation. METHODS From January 2016 to January 2019 at Renji Hospital Affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 208 donors were recruited and randomly assigned to four groups: S-RIPC group (no intervention; n = 55), D-RIPC group (donors received RIPC; n = 51), R-RIPC group (recipients received RIPC, n = 51) and DR-RIPC group (both donors and recipients received RIPC; n = 51). We primarily evaluated postoperative liver function among donors and recipients and incidences of early allograft dysfunction, primary nonfunction and postoperative complications among recipients. RESULTS RIPC did not significantly improve alanine transaminase and aspartate aminotransferase levels among donors and recipients or decrease the incidences of early allograft dysfunction, primary nonfunction, and postoperative complications among recipients. Limited protective effects were observed, including a lower creatinine level in the D-RIPC group than in the S-RIPC group on postoperative day 0 ( P < 0.05). However, no significant improvements were found in donors who received RIPC. Furthermore, RIPC had no effects on the overall survival of recipients. CONCLUSION The protective effects of RIPC were limited for recipients who received living liver transplantation, and no significant improvement of the prognosis was observed in recipients.