Prospective registry for laparoscopic liver resection

Laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) has been widely performed throughout the world. Although prospective registry studies to clarify the safety of LLR have been feasible, no prior multicenter prospective study has addressed this issue. We have conducted a multicenter prospective cohort study to reveal the current status of LLR in Japan.

From April 2015 to March 2016, candidates for LLR were preoperatively enrolled at 12 institutions. The primary end-point was surgical safety, which was evaluated based on surgical factors and on short-term and midterm outcomes.

A total of 102 patients were enrolled. Planned laparoscopic procedures included 96 pure laparoscopies, 1 hand-assisted laparoscopy, and 5 hybrid techniques. Non-anatomical partial resection or left lateral sectionectomy were performed in almost all cases. The median duration of surgery was 221 min. The median blood loss was 80.5 mL. Conversion was required for four patients (3.9%). The 90-day postoperative morbidities with grades more severe than II in the Clavien-Dindo classification were observed in six patients (5.9%). The median postoperative hospital stay was 9.5 days. No cases involved reoperation or mortality.

Minor resection of LLR has been performed safely. To ensure the safe dissemination of LLR, including for major resection, a larger multicenter prospective study is required.