Laparoscopic minor liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Previous studies have suggested that laparoscopic liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma is associated with lower postoperative complications compared with open liver resection.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 109 hepatocellular carcinoma patients who underwent minor liver resection at a Japanese tertiary care hospital from November 2010 to December 2022.

Results: The laparoscopic liver resection group experienced significantly lower median intraoperative blood loss compared with the open liver resection group (P = 0.0001). Furthermore, the laparoscopic liver resection group had a significantly shorter median hospital stay compared with the open liver resection group (P = 0.0002). However, there was no significant difference in median postoperative survival between the laparoscopic liver resection group and the open liver resection group (P = 0.717).

Conclusions: Laparoscopic minor liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma resulted in reduced blood loss and hospital stay without compromising long-term survival outcomes.