Intraportal insulin therapy after partial hepatectomy for hepatoma patients with insulinopenia

This prospective study was carried out in order to assess the role of intraportal insulin infusion after partial hepatectomy in hepatoma patients with insulinopenia.

Of the 38 patients who underwent hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma from August 1994 to August 1995, 21 patients took an oral glucose tolerance test with insulin measurement preoperatively. Five patients were treated postoperatively with intraportal insulin infusion, as follows: A 16-gauge catheter was inserted into a reopened umbilical vein and fixed in place by a few absorbable stitches. Regular insulin was administered just after the operation at the rate of 2 units/hour for 2-3 weeks. Blood glucose levels were maintained between 150 and 200 mg/dL. Arterial ketone body ratio was used in monitoring the function of the liver during the perioperative periods.

Ten patients (47.6%) were found to be insulinopenic. In the insulin therapy group (n = 5), the arterial ketone body ratio of 3 patients recovered within a few hours after the operation, and that of the remaining 2 patients recovered on the 1st postoperative day. But in the control group (n = 5), none of the 5 cases had an arterial ketone body ratio of more than 0.7 on the day of operation. The arterial ketone body ratio returned to normal on the 1st postoperative day in 2 cases, on the 2nd postoperative day in 1 case, and on the 5th day in 1 case. The arterial ketone body ratio recovery time was shorter in the intraportal insulin therapy group than in the control group (P = 0.042).

Intraportal insulin infusion after hepatectomy via the reopened umbilical vein may be a very simple and safe means of promoting recovery of remnant liver function after hepatectomy in hepatoma patients with insulinopenia.