Experience with the surgical treatment of hepatic hydatidosis: case series with follow-up.

Aim: To describe patient characteristics and the results of surgical treatment for hepatic hydatidosis (HH) in the Hospital Hernán Henríquez Aravena from December 2001 to March 2005.

Methods: Subjects older than 16 years with suspected HH were included based on the clinical picture and radiological studies. Variables examined included clinical and laboratory aspects, outcome, features of the parasite and surgical aspects. Descriptive statistics were used, calculating central tendency, dispersion and extreme tendency.

Results: The series was comprised of 122 patients, with an average age of 44 +/- 16.9 years. The most frequently used surgical technique was subtotal cystectomy in 90% of the patients, followed by hepatic resection (hepatectomy, segmentectomy and subsegmentectomy) in 5%. In 2%, a combination of subtotal cystectomy and segmentectomy was performed. In addition, 28% of the series presented complications in the postoperative period and mortality was 2%.

Conclusion: The most frequently used surgical technique for HH was subtotal cystectomy and the morbidity and mortality rates in this Chilean series are comparable to other national and international series.