Diabetes mellitus does not influence results of hepatectomy in hepatocellular carcinoma: case control study

Patients with diabetes mellitus undergoing hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are at high risk of acquiring perioperative infections. Herein, we investigate the peri-operative impact of diabetes on hepatectomy.

The surgical outcomes in 363 patients who underwent laparoscopic and open hepatic resection for HCC, with or without diabetes mellitus, were reviewed retrospectively. The association of diabetes mellitus with surgical outcomes and remnant liver regeneration was analyzed. The Student's t and χ² tests, Mann-Whitney's U test, Wilcoxon's signed-rank test, or Fisher's exact test were used in the statistical analysis.

Of the 363 patients, 136 (37.5%) had diabetes, while 227 (62.5%) did not. After propensity score matching, there were no significant differences between the groups in surgical outcomes such as surgery duration, bleeding amount, and postoperative complication rate. No significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of incidence rates of not only infectious complications, including surgical site infection and remote site infection, but also postoperative complication (Clavien-Dindo grade > IIIA), post-hepatectomy liver failure, and massive ascites. There were no differences in the remnant liver regeneration at 7 days and 1, 2, 5, and 12 months following the surgery between the groups (p = 0.076, 0.368, 0.864, 0.288, and 0.063, respectively). No significant differences between the groups in the overall and recurrence-free survival were observed (p = 0.613 and 0.937).

Remnant liver regeneration in diabetic patients was not morphologically and functionally delayed compared to that in non-diabetic patients. Moreover, diabetes has no effect on the short- and long-term prognosis.