An animal study concerning the pros and cons of laparoscopic interventionson the liver

The safety of laparoscopic liver resections compared to open procedure was to be evaluated in an animal study. Besides it had to be examined, whether once-surgical principles could be kept sufficiently. Therefore 8 one-year-o ld pigs underwent laparoscopic liver resections; in 2 pigs left-lateral seg mental resections were performed, in 5 leftsided hemihepatectomies and in o ne rightsided hemihepatectomy. It became obvious that a control of the vess els around the v. cava inf., of the left branch of the portal vein and of t he suprahepatic veins was not possible with sufficient safety. Extraction o f the preparations was a further problem. According to these results laparo scopic hemihepatectomy cannot be recommended for clinical routine. Further indications for a laparoscopic operation like deroofing of liver cysts, wed geresections or treatment of superficial liver injuries are to be accepted.