[Laparoscopic liver surgery]

Laparoscopic liver surgery has evolved rapidly since it was introduced in the early 1990s. Today every kind of liver resection is carried out by the laparoscopic approach in selected centres. No randomized clinical trials have yet been performed to compare laparoscopic to open hepatic resection and the literature consists mainly of retrospective studies. Laparoscopic liver surgery seems to be superior to open liver surgery with regard to morbidity and mortality, as it also seems superior in cost benefit analysis. There are no data on long-term oncological results.