Precoagulation-assisted parenchyma-sparing laparoscopic liver surgery: rationale and surgical technique

For the treatment of both primary and metastatic liver tumors, laparoscopic parenchyma-sparing surgery is advocated to reduce postoperative liver failure and facilitate reoperation in the case of recurrence. However, atypical and wedge resections are associated with a higher amount of intraoperative bleeding than are anatomical resections, and such bleeding is known to affect short- and long-term outcomes. Beyond the established role of radiofrequency and microwave ablation in the setting of inoperable liver tumors, the application of thermoablative energy along the plane of the liver surface to be transected results in a zone of coagulative necrosis, possibly minimizing bleeding of the cut liver surface during parenchymal transection.

From January 2013 to March 2016, a total of 20 selected patients underwent laparoscopic ultrasound-guided liver resection with thermoablative precoagulation of the transection line.

During a period of 38 months, 50 laparoscopic thermoablative procedures were performed. Colorectal liver metastases were the most frequent diagnosis. Seventy-two percent of the nodules were removed using parenchymal transection with radiofrequency-precoagulation, while microwave-precoagulation was performed for 20 % of the resected nodules. The remaining 8 % of the nodules were treated by thermoablation alone. The hepatic pedicle was intermittently clamped in six patients. The mean blood loss was 290 mL, and four patients required perioperative transfusions.

Precoagulation-assisted parenchyma-sparing laparoscopic liver surgery can get minimal blood loss during parenchymal transection and lower the need for perioperative transfusions, providing a nonquantifiable margin of oncological safety on the remaining liver. Additional results from larger series are advocated to confirm these preliminary data.