Background: Laparoscopic hepatic bisegmentectomy (s4b and s5) with regional lymphadenectomy (LHBRL) for patients with gallbladder cancer (GBC) is rarely reported.
Aims: The aim of the study was to describe the technique of LHBRL in patients with GBC and to present our initial experience.
Patients and methods: This retrospective study was conducted on twenty patients with GBC who were considered for LHBRL by the described technique. These patients either had a suspicion of GBC (SGBC) or had an incidental diagnosis of GBC (IGBC). Appropriate statistical methods were applied.
Results: Twelve patients (60%) had SGBC and eight patients (40%) had IGBC. Eighteen patients (90%) were females and median age was 50 (range: 28-70) years. Median (range) surgical blood loss was 120 ml (80-400), operation time was 300 (200-480) min and hospital stay was 5.5 (2-10) days. No patient had iatrogenic complication during LHBRL. Five (25%) patients required conversion to open method. Four patients (20%) who developed complications were managed conservatively. All but three patients (25%) with SGBC had a benign disease on final biopsy. TNM stage of 17 patients (85%) with adenocarcinoma was T1bN0 in 3 (17.6%), T2N0 in 6 (35.3%), T3N0 in 2 (11.7%) and T1-3N1 in 6 (35.3%). The median lymph node count was 10 (range: 4-24) and resection margins were negative (R0) in all. The overall survival was 82.3%. During a median follow-up of 22 months, two patients died due to disease recurrence and one patient died due to myocardial infarction.
Conclusion: The described technique of LHBRL is safe and feasible for patients with GBC without extrahepatic involvement.
Keywords: Bisegmentectomy; cholecystectomy; extended; gallbladder cancer; laparoscopy; radical.