Comparative Analysis of the Safety and Feasibility of Laparoscopic Versus Open Segment 7 Hepatectomy.

Background: Laparoscopic hepatectomy has been widely accepted owing to its advantages as a minimally invasive surgery; however, laparoscopic segment 7 (S7) hepatectomy (LSH) has been rarely reported. We aimed to explore the safety and feasibility of LSH by comparing it with open surgical approaches.

Methods: Twenty-nine patients who underwent S7 hepatectomy between January 2016 and January 2023 were enrolled in this study. The patients' characteristics, intraoperative details, and postoperative outcomes were compared between the 2 groups.

Results: No significant differences were observed in the preoperative data. The patients who underwent LSH had significantly shorter hospital stays (P=0.016) but longer operative times (P=0.034) than those who underwent open S7 hepatectomy. No significant differences in blood loss (P=0.614), transfusion (P=0.316), hospital expenses (P=0.391), surgical margin (P=0.442), rate of other complications, postoperative white blood cell count, and alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels were noted between the 2 groups (P>0.05). For hepatocellular carcinoma, the results showed no differences in either disease-free survival (P=0.432) or overall survival (P=0.923) between the 2 groups.

Conclusions: LSH is a safe and feasible surgical procedure that is efficient from an oncological point of view. It may be the preferred technique for lesions in the S7 of the liver.