Liver surgery

Surgery on the liver is a major undertaking and probably should only be attempted by surgeons suitably trained and with adequate experience. Lack of such experience perhaps accounts in part for the high mortality rate still associated with major liver surgery following trauma since the operation must be carried out by the surgeon on the spot under difficult conditions. Modern sophisticated diagnosis techniques now allow accurate localization and assessment of liver lesions and the short-term technical results of elective surgery are improving. Despite this, the long-term effects of liver surgery for malignancy are poor but it is often justified to relieve symptoms. Transplantation is still in its infancy and although the results look disappointing the occasional reports of long-term survivors should encourage further work in this field.