[A novel technique of laparoscopic hepatectomy]

We report a novel technique of laparoscopic hepatectomy (lap-HT) performed at our hospital and the outcomes.Lap -HT was performed in 90 cases at our hospital, including 38 cases of anatomical resection of the liver.After mobilization of the right lobe with the patient in the half-lateral position, we resected the liver tissue using cavitron ultrasonic surgical aspirator (CUSA) and AquamantysTM Bipolar®.This surgical instrument is useful for laparoscopic anatomical resection of the liver because it is based on vessel sealing technology.In the 90 cases in which lap-HT was performed, the mean duration of surgery and mean blood loss were 332.9 minutes and 381 mL, respectively. The mean duration of hospitalization after surgery was 12.1 days, and postoperative complications were noted in 5 cases(5.6%). Comparison of the clinical factors and short-term performance of the surgery between liver cirrhosis patients who underwent open hepatectomy and lap-HT revealed that blood loss was significantly lower and the hospital stay duration was significantly shorter in patients who underwent lap-HT. Our findings suggest that laparoscopic anatomical resection of the liver can be safely performed using this novel technique and surgical instrument.