Minimally invasive approaches to liver surgery.
In recent years, we have seen minimally invasive surgery used for a number of procedures once thought
improbable if not impossible. Increased technical skills and improved instrumentation have broken down
many of the early barriers to performing minimally invasive liver surgery. Improvements in imaging technologies,
particularly videoscopy and laparoscopic ultrasound, have made laparoscopy the gold standard for
assessment of liver pathology. Instruments and approaches for more advanced hepatic procedures (resections,
tumor ablations) are currently being developed and refined.
Swanstrom
L
L
Legacy Portland Hospitals, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Ore.