Right hepatic lobe resection and thrombocytopenia

Thrombocytopenia has previously been reported after right lobe resection for organ donation. The mechanism(s) of low platelets after right hepatectomy is unclear and several hypotheses have been proposed including a decrease in thrombopoietin, and hepatic insufficiency resulting in relative portal hypertension following hepatic resection. However, there has previously not been any comparison between patients who undergo hepatic resection for neoplasia vs. for living organ donation. We compared platelet values in the postoperative period of patients who underwent right hepatectomy for living donation (n = 93) to those who underwent hepatectomy for neoplasia (n = 21). There was no significant difference in platelet values between the two groups at one month (291.2 ± 100 vs. 285.73 ± 159, p = NS), three months (223.8 ± 61 vs. 185.27 ± 80, p = NS) and at 12 months (212 ± 44 vs. 191 ± 60, p = NS). We conclude that thrombocytopenia is not uncommon following hepatic lobe resection, and is unaffected by the indication for hepatectomy.