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Updated: May 11, 2026
Laparoscopic Left Hemihepatectomy Combined with Caudate Lobe Resection
Published on: April 11, 2025
Laparoscopic versus open liver resection: a meta-analysis of long-term outcome
Kevin Ryan Parks1, Yen-Hong Kuo, John Mihran Davis
1Department of Surgery, Jersey Shore University Medical Center; Department of Surgery, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
Background:
Laparoscopic liver resection is growing in popularity, but the long-term outcome of patients undergoing laparoscopic liver resection for malignancy has not been established. This paper is a meta-analysis and compares the long-term survival of patients undergoing laparoscopic (LHep) versus open (OHep) liver resection for the treatment of malignant liver tumours.
Methods:
A PubMed database search identified comparative human studies analysing LHep versus OHep for malignant tumours. Clinical and survival parameters were extracted. The search was last conducted on 18 March 2012.
Results:
In total, 1002 patients in 15 studies were included (446 LHep and 556 OHep). A meta-analysis of overall survival showed no difference [1-year: odds ratio (OR) 0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.42 to 1.20, P = 0.202; 3-years: OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.03, P = 0.076; 5-years: OR 0.8, 95% CI 0.59 to 1.10, P = 0.173]. Subset analyses of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal metastases (CRM) were performed. There was no difference in the 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival for HCC or in the 1-year survival for CRM, however, a survival advantage was found for CRM at 3 years (LHep 80% versus OHep 67.4%, P = 0.036).
Conclusions:
Laparoscopic surgery should be considered an acceptable alternative for the treatment of malignant liver tumours.
