Laparoscopic hepatectomy is associated with a higher incident frequency in hepatolithiasis patients.

Purposes: The primary concern regarding laparoscopic hepatectomy in hepatolithiasis patients is surgical safety, which may be high in current practice.

Methods: Hepatolithiasis patients who underwent laparoscopic and laparotomic hepatectomies were retrospectively studies after being matched for age, location of gallstones, liver resection and underlying liver conditions at a ratio of 1:1 (n = 44 in each group). The rates of intraoperative incidents and postoperative complications were examined using validated classification and grading systems. The primary outcome measure was the procedure-related complication/mortality rate.

Results: Laparoscopy was converted to open surgery in three patients (6.8 %). The length of the operation for laparoscopic hepatectomy was significantly longer than that for laparotomic hepatectomy (277.5 min [range, 190-410 min] vs. 212.5 min [140-315 min], P < 0.001). The two groups had similar intraoperative blood loss (367.5 mL [150-1200 mL] vs. 392.5 mL [200-1400 mL], P > 0.05) and transfusion frequencies (13.6 vs. 18.2 %, P > 0.05). The laparoscopy group had a higher percentage of patients with at least one intraoperative incident compared with the laparotomy group (22.7 vs. 6.8 %; P < 0.05). Vascular events occurred in nine patients (20.5 %) undergoing laparoscopy and two patients (4.5 %) undergoing laparotomy (OR 5.4 [95 %CI, 1.1-26.7], P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Laparoscopic hepatectomy is associated with a higher risk of intraoperative vascular incidents in hepatolithiasis patients compared wit laparotomy.