Pure Laparoscopic Versus Open Right Hepatectomy in Live Liver Donors: A Propensity Score-matched Analysis

The aim of the study was to present the safety and feasibility of pure laparoscopic donor right hepatectomy (PLDRH) in comparison with those of conventional donor right hepatectomy.

Although the use of PLDRH is gradually spreading worldwide, its outcomes, including the long-term outcomes in both donors and recipients, have not yet been evaluated in a large comparative study.

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 894 donors who underwent living donor liver transplantation between January 2010 and September 2018 at Seoul National University Hospital. We performed 1:1 propensity score matching between the PLDRH and conventional donor right hepatectomy groups. Subsequently, 198 donor-recipient pairs were included in each group.

The total operation time (P < 0.001), time to remove the liver (P < 0.001), and warm ischemic time (P < 0.001) were longer in the PLDRH group. None of the donors required intraoperative transfusion or experienced any irreversible disabilities or mortalities. The length of postoperative hospital stay was significantly shorter in the PLDRH group (P < 0.001). The rate of complications in donors was similar between the 2 groups. Although other complication rates in recipients were, however, similar, the rates of early (P = 0.019) and late (P < 0.001) biliary complications in recipients were higher in the PLDRH group. There was no significant difference in overall survival and graft survival between the 2 groups.

PLDRH is feasible when performed at an experienced living donor liver transplantation center. Further studies on long-term recipient outcomes including biliary complications are needed to confirm the safety.