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Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more useful as a decision-making and outcomes predictor tool. We have developed AI models to predict surgical complexity and the postoperative course in laparoscopic liver surgery for segments 7 and 8., Methods: We included patients with lesions located in segments 7 and 8 operated by minimally invasive liver surgery from an international multi-institutional database. We have employed AI models to predict surgical complexity and postoperative outcomes. Furthermore, we have applied SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) to make the AI models interpretable. Finally, we analyzed the surgeries not converted to open versus those converted to open., Results: Overall, 585 patients and 22 variables were included. Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) showed the highest performance for predicting surgery complexity and Random Forest (RF) for predicting postoperative outcomes. SHAP detected that MLP and RF gave the highest relevance to the variables "resection type" and "largest tumor size" for predicting surgery complexity and postoperative outcomes. In addition, we explored between surgeries converted to open and non-converted, finding statistically significant differences in the variables "tumor location," "blood loss," "complications," and "operation time.", Conclusion: We have observed how the application of SHAP allows us to understand the predictions of AI models in surgical complexity and the postoperative outcomes of laparoscopic liver surgery in segments 7 and 8., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background/purpose: To investigate the safety of laparoscopic liver resections (LLRs) for high-risk patients (HRs) with preoperative comorbidities affecting the heart, lungs, kidneys, glucose tolerance, and central nervous system., Methods: This retrospective study included 585 patients who had undergone total hepatectomies from 2006 to 2020. Among them, 239 patients underwent LLRs, and 349 underwent open liver resections (OLRs). The safety and validity of LLRs were analyzed by comparing outcomes and preoperative records between HRs and nonhigh-risk patients (nHRs). HRs were defined as patients with any type of chronic heart disease rated New York Heart Association II or higher, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease rated stage III or higher, chronic kidney disease rated stage III or higher, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, or cerebrovascular disease with neurological sequelae., Results: A total of 117 LLRs (49.0%) were performed in HRs, and there were more patients with ASA class III or higher than nHRs. Complications of Clavien-Dindo classification grade 3b or higher were not observed in HRs and in only one nHR. Furthermore, no postoperative exacerbations of the five HRs factors were observed in either group., Conclusions: Rigorous assessment of surgical indications and perioperative management can promote safe LLRs, even in HRs with comorbidities., (© 2023 Japanese Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery.)

Purpose: To evaluate the predictors of a difficult Pringle maneuver (PM) in laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) and to assess alternative procedures to PM., Methods: Data from patients undergoing LLR between 2013 and 2020 were reviewed retrospectively. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed and the outcomes of patients who underwent PM or alternative procedures were compared., Results: Among 106 patients who underwent LLR, PM could not be performed in 18 (17.0%) because of abdominal adhesions in 14 (77.8%) and/or collateral flow around the hepatoduodenal ligament in 5 (27.8%). Multivariate analysis revealed that Child-Pugh classification B (p = 0.034) and previous liver resection (p < 0.001) were independently associated with difficulty in performing PM in LLR. We evaluated pre-coagulation of liver tissue using microwave tissue coagulators, saline irrigation monopolar, clamping of the hepatoduodenal ligament using an intestinal clip, and hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery as alternatives procedures to PM. There were no significant differences in blood loss (p = 0.391) or transfusion (p = 0.518) between the PM and alternative procedures., Conclusions: Child-Pugh classification B and previous liver resection were identified as predictors of a difficult PM in LLR. The alternative procedures were found to be effective., (© 2022. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.)

Objective: To investigate the frequency of laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) nationwide in Japan., Background: LLR was initially limited to basic liver resection, but is becoming more common in advanced liver resection., Methods: Retrospective observational study of 148,507 patients registered in the National Clinical Database 2011-2017. Excluded: liver resection with biliary and vascular reconstruction., Results: LLR or open liver resection (OLR) was performed in 1848 (9.9%) and 16,888 (90.1%) patients, respectively, in 2011, whereas in 2017, LLR had increased to 24.8% and OLR decreased to 75.2% of resections (5648 and 17,099 patients, respectively). There was an annual increasing trend of LLR, starting at 9.9%, then 13.8%, 17.3%, 21.2%, 18.1%, 21.0%, and finally 24.8% in 2017. Basic LLR became more common, up to 30.8% of LR in 2017. Advanced LLR increased from 3.3% of all resections in 2011 to 10.8% in 2017. Throughout the years observed, there were fewer complications in LLR than OLR. Operative mortality was 3.6% for both advanced LLR and OLR in 2011, and decreased to 1.0% and 2.0%, respectively, in 2017. Mortality for both basic LLR and basic OLR were low and did not change throughout the study, at 0.5% and 1.6%, respectively, in 2011 and 0.5% and 1.1%, in 2017., Conclusions: LLR has rapidly become widespread in Japan. Basic LLR is now a standard option, and advanced LLR, while not as common yet, has been increasing year by year. LLR has been safely developed with low mortality and complications rate relative to OLR., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) has been spread as minimally invasive surgery for liver disease. Advances in surgical technique and devices enabled us to perform various procedures of LLR. Indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging has been suggested as useful tool to identify liver tumors, anatomical territory of liver parenchyma, and cholangiography in open liver surgery. Due to recent development, this technology can be applied in LLR. we describe safe and effective using of the ICG fluorescence imaging during LLR., Methods: From September 2013 to August 2019, 34 patients were performed LLR using a total of 46 procedures by ICG fluorescence imaging system for purposes including identification of anatomic domain of the liver in 12 LLRs, detection of liver tumors in 30 nodules, or intraoperative cholangiography in 4 LLRs., Results: During the detection of liver tumors, 25 nodules in 30 malignant to benign tumors were positively detected (83.3%). Although there has been no publication regarding information on ICG fluorescence imaging of low grade malignant or benign tumors, we found positive emission in focal nodular hyperplasia, an angiomyolipoma, and an intraductal papillary neoplasm of the bile duct. The identification of anatomic domain in the liver was successful in all 12 LLRs with negative and positive staining techniques. In the intraoperative cholangiography, all 4 tests were successfully performed. One of 4 patients were found to have biliary leakage which was repaired intraoperatively., Conclusions: The ICG fluorescence imaging could be useful in safe and precise performance of LLR.

Background/purpose: Laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) has been expanded rapidly and has been accepted worldwide; however, the safety assessment of LLR has not been fully conducted with a large-scale cohort. The aim of this study was to assess safety and identify clinical factors associated with postoperative major complications in LLR., Methods: This project study retrospectively collected the data of LLRs performed before October 2015 in Japan. Patient characteristics, details of LLRs, and surgical outcomes were analyzed., Results: A total of 4122 patients from 66 institutions were enrolled. The main indications were hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal liver metastases. The majority of the procedures were performed for solitary tumor-located liver segment 2, 3, 5, and 6 and the partial resection and left-lateral sectionectomy occupied 77.3%. The rate of conversion, accidental events were 7.1% and 2.1%, respectively. Postoperative major complication occurred in 205 cases (5.0%), and 14 in-hospital deaths were found among HCC patients with chronically diseased liver. Occurrence of postoperative major complication was associated with operation time (≥360 minutes), intraoperative blood loss (≥250 mL), red blood cell transfusion (yes), and the difficulty score (≥6). The 30- and 90-day mortality was 0.14% and 0.41%, respectively., Conclusions: Laparoscopic liver resection was performed with an acceptable rate of conversion, accidental events, morbidity, and mortality. The indications for LLR should be cautiously judged considering tumor location, planned operative procedure, and liver function., (© 2021 Japanese Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery.)

Background: A procedure-based laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) classification (IMM classification) stratified 11 different LLR procedures into 3 grades. IMM classification assessed the difficulty of LLR differently than an index-based LLR classification (IWATE criteria), which scored each procedure on an index scale of 12. We validated the difference of 3 IMM grades using an external cohort, evaluated the IMM classification using the scores of the IWATE criteria, and compared the performance of IMM classification with the IWATE criteria and the minor/major classification., Methods: Patients undergoing LLR without simultaneous procedures were selected from a prospectively maintained database at the Institut Mutualiste Montsouris (IMM cohort) and from the database of 43 Japanese institutions (JMI cohort). Surgical and postoperative outcomes were evaluated according to the 3 IMM grades using the JMI cohort. The 11 LLR procedures included in the IMM classification were scored according to the IWATE criteria. The area under the curves (AUCs) for surgical and postoperative outcomes were compared., Results: In the JMI (n = 1867) cohort, operative time, blood loss, conversion rate, and major complication rate were significantly associated with a stepwise increase in grades from I to III (all, P < 0.001). In the IMM (n = 433) and JMI cohorts, IMM grades I, II, and III corresponded to three low-scoring, two intermediate-scoring, and six high-scoring LLR procedures as per the IWATE criteria, respectively. Mean ± standard deviation among the IMM grades were significantly different: 3.7 ± 1.4 (grade I) versus 7.5 ± 1.7 (grade II) versus 10.2 ± 1.0 (grade III) (P < 0.001) in the IMM cohort and 3.6 ± 1.4 (grade I) versus 6.7 ± 1.5 (grade II) versus 9.3 ± 1.4 (grade III) (P < 0.001) in the JMI cohort. The AUCs for surgical and postoperative outcomes are higher for the 3-level IMM classification than for the minor/major classification., Conclusions: The difference of 3 IMM grades with respect to surgical and postoperative outcomes was validated using an external cohort. The 3-level procedure-based IMM classification was in accordance with the index-based IWATE criteria. The IMM classification performed better than the minor/major classification for stratifying LLR procedures.

Background: The original difficulty scoring system was revised after discussion at the 2nd International Consensus Conference on Laparoscopic Liver Resection held in Morioka (Iwate Prefecture) in Japan and renamed the IWATE criteria (a 4-level classification system involving 6 preoperative factors). We used Japanese and French cohorts to validate the IWATE criteria by evaluating their association with the procedure-based difficulty classification proposed by the Institut Mutualiste Montsouris., Method: Patients who had undergone laparoscopic liver resection at multiple Japanese multi-institutions or the Institut Mutualiste Montsouris were assigned to the multiple Japanese multi-institution (n = 1,867) or Institut Mutualiste Montsouris cohort (n = 433). We analyzed clinical characteristics and outcomes according to the 4-level IWATE criteria difficulties (low, intermediate, advanced, and expert) and evaluated their association with 11 laparoscopic liver resection procedures in the Institut Mutualiste Montsouris classification (low, intermediate, and high levels)., Results: We found significant differences in age, surgical indications, and the 4-level IWATE criteria difficulties between the cohorts (all, P < .001). Operation time and blood loss were significantly different among the 4-level difficulties in both cohorts (all, P < .001). The rates of conversion, postoperative complications, liver failure, and in-hospital deaths also increased significantly with increasing difficulty (all, P < .001). The IWATE criteria classified the three low-level Institut Mutualiste Montsouris procedures in the low-to-intermediate levels, the two intermediate-level procedures in the intermediate-to-advanced levels, and the six high-level procedures in the advanced-to-expert levels., Conclusion: We observed associations between the IWATE criteria and intraoperative and postoperative outcomes in the Japanese multi-institution and Institut Mutualiste Montsouris cohorts and thus validated the IWATE system., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purposes: This retrospective analysis compared the cost outcomes for both patients and hospitals, as well as the short-term outcomes, for laparoscopic hepatectomy (LH) and open hepatectomy (OH)., Methods: The subjects comprised 70 patients who underwent LH or OH. The total hospital charge was calculated using the Japanese lump-sum payment system according to the diagnosis procedure combination., Results: Of the 70 patients, 10 in the LH group and 16 in the OH group underwent primary single limited/anatomic resection or left lateral sectoriectomy. The operation time, blood loss, and postoperative complications did not differ significantly between the two groups. The median [range] time of inflow occlusion was significantly longer [120 (50-194) vs. 57 (17-151) min, P = 0.03] and the postoperative hospital stay was significantly shorter [5 (4-6) vs. 9 (5-12) days, P < 0.01] in the LH group than in the OH group, respectively. The mean ± standard deviation surgical costs (1307 ± 596 vs. 1054 ± 365 US$, P = 0.43) and total hospital charges (12046 ± 1174 vs. 11858 ± 2096 US$, P > 0.99) were similar in the LH and OH groups, respectively, although the charges per day were significantly higher in the LH group than in the OH group (1388 ± 217 vs. 1016 ± 134 US$, P < 0.01)., Conclusions: The costs to patients for LH are similar to those for OH. However, LH provides a financial advantage to hospitals due to a reduced hospital stay and comparable surgical costs.

A 66-year-old man with postsigmoidectomy status for colon cancer received laparoscopic partial hepatectomy due to a hepatic mass with employing titanium clips were for a vascular clamp. Histological examination showed liver metastasis from sigmoid colon cancer. Twenty-nine months after the partial hepatectomy, a mass developed on the stump at the hepatic resection. Laparoscopic left lateral segmentectomy was conducted under suspicion of cancer recurrence and an automatic titanium stapling device was used. The macroscopically cut surface of the liver showed a grey-white solid nodule measuring 23 x 20 mm and involving metal clips. The nodule was consistent with granuloma microscopically. Twenty-three months after the segmentectomy, a mass reappeared on the hepatic radial margin and an open left lateral hepatic lobectomy was performed because of its growth tendency. Histopathological examination revealed granuloma similar to the previous instance. Since these nodules formed a granulomatous lesion surrounding metal staples/clips and evidence of caseous necrosis was lacking, granuloma due to surgical staples/clips was suspected. Sporadic case reports of postoperative pulmonary granuloma at the staple line have been published previously, but there are no articles detailing a case involving hepatic granuloma. We present our case as the first report of postoperative staple-line hepatic granuloma.

The continuing evolution of technique and devices used in laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) has allowed successful application of this minimally invasive surgery for the treatment of liver disease. However, the type of instruments by energy sources and technique used vary among each institution. We reviewed the literature to seek the best technique for parenchymal transection, which was proposed as one of the important clinical question in the 2nd International Consensus Conference on LLR held on October 2014. While publications have described transection techniques used in LLR from 1991 to June 2014, it is difficult to specify the best technique and device for laparoscopic hepatic parenchymal transection, owing to a lack of randomized trials with only a small number of comparative studies. However, it is clear that instruments should be used in combination with others based on their functions and the depth of liver resection. Most authors have reported using staplers to secure and divide major vessels. Preparation for prevention of unexpected hemorrhaging particularly in liver cirrhosis, the Pringle's maneuver and prompt technique for hemostasis should be performed. We conclude that hepatobiliary surgeons should select techniques based on their familiarity with a concrete understanding of instruments and individualize to the procedure of LLR., (© 2015 Japanese Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery.)

Early on, laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) was limited to partial resection, but major LLR is no longer rare. A difficulty scoring system is required to guide surgeons in advancing from simple to highly technical laparoscopic resections. Subjects were 90 patients who had undergone pure LLR at three medical institutions (30 patients/institution) from January 2011 to April 2014. Surgical difficulty was assessed by the operator using an index of 1-10 with the following divisions: 1-3 low difficulty, 4-6 intermediate difficulty, and 7-10 high difficulty. Weighted kappa statistic was used to calculate the concordance between the operators' and reviewers' (expert surgeon) difficulty index. Inter-rater agreement (weighted kappa statistic) between the operators' and reviewers' assessments was 0.89 with the three-level difficulty index and 0.80 with the 10-level difficulty index. A 10-level difficulty index by linear modeling based on clinical information revealed a weighted kappa statistic of 0.72 and that scored by the extent of liver resection, tumor location, tumor size, liver function, and tumor proximity to major vessels revealed a weighted kappa statistic of 0.68. We proposed a new scoring system to predict difficulty of various LLRs preoperatively. The calculated score well reflected difficulty., (© 2014 Japanese Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery.)

Recently, the range of applications of surgical staplers has been extended to include laparoscopic liver resection because manipulation of a surgical stapler is very simple. Revealing the causes of stapling failure and suggesting a method to solve stapling failure are important for safe laparoscopic liver resection. Surgeons say that tissues make stapling more likely to fail if they are thick and brittle. However, the combinatorial effect of the thickness and stiffness of tissues on the success of surgical stapling for laparoscopic liver resection has not been investigated. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of tissue thickness and tissue stiffness on the success rate (SR) of surgical stapling. From ex vivo stapling experimental results using pig livers, it is suggested that the effect of tissue thickness is greater than the effect of tissue stiffness on the SR of stapling. If tissue thickness is 5 mm, the SR of stapling is high regardless of the magnitude of the tissue-stiffness parameter. However, if tissue thickness is >10 mm, the SR of stapling has a relationship with nonlinear viscoelastic parameters. Therefore, the SR of stapling could be predicted from tissue thickness and nonlinear elastic parameters.

Laparoscopic hepatectomy (LH) has become popular as a surgical treatment for liver diseases, and numerous recent studies indicate that it is safe and has advantages in selected patients. Because of the magnified view offered by the laparoscope under pneumoperitoneal pressure, LH results in less bleeding than open laparotomy. However, gas embolism is an important concern that has been discussed in the literature, and experimental studies have shown that LH is associated with a high incidence of gas embolism. Major hepatectomies are done laparoscopically in some centers, even though the risk of gas embolism is believed to be higher than for minor hepatectomy due to the wide transection plane with dissection of major hepatic veins and long operative time. At many high-volume centers, LH is performed at a pneumoperitoneal pressure less than 12 mmHg, and reports indicate that the rate of clinically severe gas embolism is low. However, more studies will be necessary to elucidate the optimal pneumoperitoneal pressure and the incidence of gas embolism during LH.

Purpose: To assess the types of liver resection, surgical approaches, and surgical outcomes, a questionnaire survey was undertaken at 32 member hospitals of the Japanese Endoscopic Liver Study Group., Methods/results: Laparoscopic liver resections were performed on 837 patients. Major hepatectomy, including trisectionectomy, hemihepatectomy, and sectionectomy, constituted 106 of the cases. Laparoscopic major hepatectomy (LMH) was performed as totally laparoscopic (n = 8) (7.5 %), hand-assisted (n = 4) (3.8 %), or laparoscopy-assisted (n = 94) (88.7 %). None of the 106 patients were converted to open surgery. Complications occurred in 18 (17.0 %) of the 106 patients. One patient (0.9 %) had bleeding, two (1.9 %) had liver failure, six (5.7 %) had bile leakage, two (1.9 %) had pleural effusion, five (4.7 %) had surgical site infection, one (0.9 %) had pneumonia, and one (0.9 %) had acute respiratory distress syndrome. There were no perioperative deaths or gas embolisms., Conclusion: In conclusion, a major hepatectomy using a hybrid technique is safe and feasible.

Background/aims: Although laparoscopic hepatectomy is increasingly performed for hepatocellular carcinoma, few studies have investigated the efficacy of laparoscopic surgery, including hepatectomy for the treatment of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma. We report the results of our study on the efficacy of laparoscopic surgery., Methodology: Forty-three of 123 hepatocellular carcinoma patients underwent laparoscopic surgery in 2002-2009; 16 were treated for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma. The characteristics and postoperative outcomes of these 16 patients were retrospectively investigated., Results: Seven patients underwent laparoscopic hepatectomy, 1 underwent laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation, 7 underwent resection of an extrahepatic metastatic tumor and 1 patient received diagnostic assessment. Twelve of the 15 surgical patients had a repeat recurrence after surgery. Survival at 2 years was significantly higher in patients with intrahepatic vs. extrahepatic recurrence (100% vs. 42.9%). In addition, overall survival (51.2 vs. 23.0 months) was significantly longer in patients with intrahepatic recurrence, although disease-free survival (19.2 vs. 10.6 months) was not so., Conclusions: Laparoscopic surgery for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma enabled precise tumor localization, more accurate diagnosis, and more careful selection of therapy based on hepatic functional reserve and recurrence type. Laparoscopic surgery appears to be an effective, minimally invasive option for the diagnosis and treatment of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma.

Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy is currently in widespread use because of its technical simplicity, although laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy is practiced in only a limited number of surgical institutions due to the associated technical difficulties especially at reconstruction. The indication for the treatment of pancreatic cancer by a laparoscopic procedure remains controversial. Because pancreatic cancer is already advanced at the time of diagnosis in many cases, it requires a difficult radical operation in terms of lymphadenectomy with nerves plexus in laparoscopic surgery. The oncologic clearance of pancreatic resection may be achievable by laparoscopic surgery, although longer follow-up and larger series of treatment are still needed.

Introduction: We have used laparoscopic hepatectomy as a surgical treatment for HCC in patients with cirrhosis. We describe the indications, evaluate invasiveness and analyze the outcomes of laparoscopic hepatectomy., Methods and Results: With respect to operative method, laparoscopic hepatectomy involving either partial hepatectomy or left lateral sectionectomy is a less invasive procedure in patients with cirrhosis than conventional hepatectomy. Among our laparoscopic hepatectomy cases, operative time was shorter and bleeding was less in recent, as compared to earlier, cases. Furthermore, laparoscopic hepatectomy was less invasive than conventional hepatectomy, as determined by the E-PASS scoring system. Patients also recovered more quickly, which resulted in shorter hospital stays even for patients with cirrhosis. Both the 5-year survival rate and the rate of survival without recurrence of HCC were nearly identical to those of open conventional hepatectomy., Conclusion: These findings indicate that laparoscopic hepatectomy avoids the disadvantages of standard hepatectomy for HCC in properly selected patients with cirrhosis and that its minimal invasiveness improves patients' quality of life.

Background/purpose: We draw on our experience with laparoscopic hepatectomy (LH) to present recommendations for standardization of LH for the treatment of liver tumors., Methods: At our center, 90 LHs were performed from April 1993 to January 2008. These were divided equally into early cases and late cases, and short-term postoperative results were compared. Forty-nine of the LH procedures were total-laparoscopic procedures, 16 were hand-assisted procedures, and 25 were laparoscopy-assisted procedures. The tumors were malignant in 76 cases and benign in 14 cases., Results: Among late cases, the numbers of malignant tumors and tumors located in the posterosuperior region of the liver (Segments VII, VIII, and IVb) were significantly higher than among early cases; however, operative blood loss and postoperative hospital stay were significantly lower in the late cases (158.9 +/- 213.4 vs. 377.6 +/- 421.2 cc, P = 0.007; and 8.7 +/- 3.6 vs. 15.3 +/- 8.7 days, P = 0.0001, respectively). No operative deaths occurred in either group., Conclusions: Although LH does have a steep learning curve, we believe that it can be standardized and provide a less invasive surgical option--with no reduction in disease curability--for the treatment of liver tumors in selected patients.

An assessment of the learning curve of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) might encourage its worldwide spread among inexperienced surgeons. One hundred sixty-seven patients with early gastric cancer were enrolled in this study: 67 underwent conventional open distal gastrectomy and 100 underwent LADG after classification into 5 groups of 20 according to the surgeon's level of experience. Patient characteristics and operative findings were compared between groups. Operation time was significantly longer, time to first flatus earlier, and blood loss reduced in the LADG groups compared with the open distal gastrectomy group. Surgeons with experience of 60 cases performed operations of similar times in both groups, and blood loss decreased with experience of 20 cases. There was no operative conversion, the frequency of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs administered were significantly less, and length of hospital stay were shorter by surgeons with experience of 60 cases. LADG is a technically feasible surgical procedure, depending on the surgeon's technical proficiency. Experience of at least 60 cases of LADG seems to result in satisfactory patient outcomes.

Background: We have continued to develop laparoscopic hepatectomy as a means of surgical therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: We evaluated the degree of invasiveness and analyzed the outcomes of laparoscopic hepatectomy compared with open hepatectomy for HCC., Results: There were notable differences with respect to blood loss and operating time compared with open hepatectomy cases. Patients started walking and eating significantly earlier in the laparoscopic hepatectomy group, and these more rapid recoveries allowed shorter hospitalizations. On the Estimation of Physiologic Ability and Surgical Stress (E-PASS) scoring system, there was no difference in preoperative risk. However, a significant difference was seen in the surgical stress and comprehensive risk scores between the open hepatectomy and laparoscopic hepatectomy groups. Concerning the survival rate and disease-free survival rate, there were no significant differences between procedures., Conclusions: Laparoscopic hepatectomy avoids some of the disadvantages of open hepatectomy and is beneficial for patient quality of life (QOL) as a minimally invasive procedure if the operative indications are appropriately based on preoperative liver function and the location and size of HCC.