Early results of liver resection using laparoscopic technique

The aim of the study was to present early outcomes of liver resection using laparoscopic technique. Material and methods. Retrospective analysis of patients who underwent liver resection using laparoscopic method was conducted. The analyzed group included 23 patients (11 women and 12 men). An average patient age was 61.3 years (37 – 83 years). Metastases of the colorectal cancer to the liver were the cause for qualification to the procedure of 15 patients, metastasis of breast cancer in 1 patient and primary liver malignancy in 5 patients. The other 2 patients were qualified to the liver resection to widen the surgical margins due to gall-bladder cancer diagnosed in the pathological assessment of the specimen resected during laparoscopic cholecystectomy, initially performed for other than oncology indications. Results. Hemihepatectomy was performed in 11 patients (9 right and 2 left), while the other 12 patients underwent minor resection procedures (5 metastasectomies, 4 nonanatomical liver resections, 1 bisegmentectomy, 2 resections of the gall-bladder fossa). An average duration of the surgical procedure was 275 minutes 65 – 600). An average size of the resected tumors was 28 mm (7 – 55 mm). In three cases conversion to laparotomy occurred, caused by excessive bleeding from the liver parenchyma. Postoperative complications were found in 4 patients (17.4%). Median hospitalization duration was 6 days (2 – 130 days). One patient (4.3%) was rehospitalized due to subhepatic abscess and required reoperation. Histopathology assessment confirmed radical resection (R0) in all patients in our group. Conclusion. Laparoscopic liver resections seem to be an interesting alternative in the treatment of focal lesions in the liver.