Laparoscopic excision of benign liver lesions

Increasing sophistication in laparoscopic instrumentation and techniques has led to an ever-expanding list of surgical indications that are no longer exclusive to gynecology. This report describes our experience with three women who had benign lesions of the liver edge found incidentally during laparoscopic surgery for gynecologic symptoms. The first women was managed traditionally with subsequent exploratory laparotomy; she developed ileus postoperatively and required a 5-day hospital stay. The other two were managed laparoscopically without incident. Each was hospitalized less than 24 hours. All three liver lesions proved benign on histologic examination. Although not all liver lesions can or should be excised laparoscopically, selected superficial neoplasms can be managed expediently by a laparoscopic approach.