Purpose: To assess the types of liver resection, surgical approaches, and surgical outcomes, a questionnaire survey was undertaken at 32 member hospitals of the Japanese Endoscopic Liver Study Group.
Methods/results: Laparoscopic liver resections were performed on 837 patients. Major hepatectomy, including trisectionectomy, hemihepatectomy, and sectionectomy, constituted 106 of the cases. Laparoscopic major hepatectomy (LMH) was performed as totally laparoscopic (n = 8) (7.5 %), hand-assisted (n = 4) (3.8 %), or laparoscopy-assisted (n = 94) (88.7 %). None of the 106 patients were converted to open surgery. Complications occurred in 18 (17.0 %) of the 106 patients. One patient (0.9 %) had bleeding, two (1.9 %) had liver failure, six (5.7 %) had bile leakage, two (1.9 %) had pleural effusion, five (4.7 %) had surgical site infection, one (0.9 %) had pneumonia, and one (0.9 %) had acute respiratory distress syndrome. There were no perioperative deaths or gas embolisms.
Conclusion: In conclusion, a major hepatectomy using a hybrid technique is safe and feasible.