Cavernous hemangioma of the liver - Anatomic resection vs enucleation

Hypothesis: Patient outcome and the development of major intra-abdominal po stoperative complications following removal of cavernous hemangiomas of the liver are affected by methods of resection. Design: Case-control study. Setting: Hepatobiliary surgery and liver transplantation unit in a tertiary care referral medical center. Patients: Between December 1, 1987, and December 1, 1997, 28 patients under went the surgical removal of cavernous hemangioma either by hepatic resecti on or enucleation. Indications for the operation were pain, enlarging tumor s, uncertain diagnosis, or rupture. Main Outcome Measures: The technique of tumor removal, hospital course, and the development of intra-abdominal complications. Independent factors infl uencing the development of complications were ascertained by multivariate a nalysis. Results: Twenty-four female and 4 male patients (age, 47.5 +/- 12.4 [mean /- SD] years) underwent either enucleation (n=23) or liver resection (n=5). Lesions ranged from 2 to 16 cm in their postresection diameter. No surgica l (30-day) mortality was observed. Four major intra-abdominal complications were found: 1 episode of intraoperative bleeding requiring abdominal packi ng and 3 intra-abdominal fluid collections requiring percutaneous drainage. Enucleation was the only independent factor found by univariate and multiv ariate analyses to be associated with a reduction in the number of intra-ab dominal complications (P=.04). Conclusions: Cavernous hemangiomas of the liver can be removed safely by ei ther hepatic resection or enucleation. Enucleation is associated with fewer intra-abdominal complications and should be the technique of choice when t umor location and technical factors favor enucleation.