[Animal experiment study on pros and cons of laparoscopic interventions on the liver]

The safety of laparoscopic liver resections compared to open procedure was to be evaluated in an animal study. Besides it had to be examined, whether onco-surgical principles could be kept sufficiently. Therefore 8 one-year-old pigs underwent laparoscopic liver resections; in 2 pigs left-lateral segmental resections were performed, in 5 left-sided hemi-hepatectomies and in one right-sided hemihepatectomy. It became obvious that a control of the vessels around the v. cava inf., of the left branch of the portal vein and of the suprahepatic veins was not possible with sufficient safety. Extraction of the preparations was a further problem. According to these results laparoscopic hemihepatectomy cannot be recommended for clinical routine. Further indications for a laparoscopic operation like deroofing of liver cysts, wedge-resections or treatment of superficial liver injuries are to be accepted.