[Laparoscopic liver resection: lessons learned after 132 resections]
Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 10, 2026
Laparoscopic Anatomical Liver Segment VII Resection with Liver Parenchymal Transection Following a Priority Approach
Published on: May 23, 2025
Ricardo Robles Campos1, Caridad Marín Hernández, Asunción Lopez-Conesa
1Unidad de Cirugía Hepática y Trasplante Hepático, Departamento de Cirugía, Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Arrixaca, El Palmar, Murcia, España.
Introduction:
After 20 years of experience in laparoscopic liver surgery there is still no clear definition of the best approach (totally laparoscopic [TLS] or hand-assisted [HAS]), the indications for surgery, position, instrumentation, immediate and long-term postoperative results, etc.
Aim:
To report our experience in laparoscopic liver resections (LLRs).
Patients And Method:
Over a period of 10 years we performed 132 LLRs in 129 patients: 112 malignant tumours (90 hepatic metastases; 22 primary malignant tumours) and 20 benign lesions (18 benign tumours; 2 hydatid cysts). Twenty-eight cases received TLS and 104 had HAS.
Surgical Technique:
6 right hepatectomies (2 as the second stage of a two-stage liver resection); 6 left hepatectomies; 9 resections of 3 segments; 42 resections of 2 segments; 64 resections of one segment; and 5 cases of local resections.
Results:
There was no perioperative mortality, and morbidity was 3%. With TLS the resection was completed in 23/28 cases, whereas with HAS it was completed in all 104 cases. Transfusion: 4,5%; operating time: 150min; and mean length of stay: 3,5 days. The 1-, 3- and 5-year survival rates for the primary malignant tumours were 100, 86 and 62%, and for colorectal metastases 92, 82 and 52%, respectively.
Conclusion:
LLR via both TLS and HAS in selected cases are similar to the results of open surgery (similar 5-year morbidity, mortality and survival rates) but with the advantages of minimally invasive surgery.
