Total Laparoscopic Liver Resection

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine whether liver resection treated by using laparoscopy is equally safe for patients who have benign liver mass, hepatolithiasis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), or metastatic liver cancer. METHODS: We performed our study in 32 patients with the following conditions: 17 patients with IHD stones, 7 with HCC, 1 with cholangiocarcinoma, and 7 patients who had colon cancer with liver metastasis. On a retrospective bases, these patients were investigated for clinical history, type of operation, time for the operation, hospital stay, and post operative complications. RESULTS: The target age range was from 37 to 80 years and the mean age was 61.2 years old. The percentage of patients over 60 years old was 68.7%. According to their past history, 8 patients had experienced an upper abdominal operation. In our study there were 9 cases of left hepatectomy (28.1%), 9 cases of left lateral segmentectomy (28.1%), 2 cases of sectionectomy, and 12 cases of wedgeresection. The average operation time was 364+/-148 mins, the average bleeding amount was 417 cc, and the average hospital stay was 13.2 days. There were 8 cases (25%) of postoperative complications developed (2 bile leak, 1 intrabdominal abscess, 1 acute renal failure, 2 wound infection). All cases were improved with conservative management. And there was one case of remnant IHD stone, which had surgical treat and one patient had peritoneal carcinomatosis, who had laparoscopic liver resection for HCC. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that laparoscopic liver resection has advantages; it is less painful, causes a small operative scar, a the short period of hospital stay and has cosmetic benefits. In the future, laparoscopic liver resection could be an important option for the treatment of hepatolithiasis and HCC through improved surgical instrument and skill of operation.