Fixation of the greater omentum for prevention of delayed gastric emptying after left-sided hepatectomy: a randomized controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE
We performed a randomized trial to evaluate whether fixation of the greater omentum to the peritoneum prevents delayed gastric emptying and other complications after left-sided hepatectomy.


METHODS
Patients undergoing left lateral segmentectomy or left hepatectomy were randomly assigned to a fixation group (n=24) and a non-fixation group (n=25). In the fixation group, the greater omentum was sutured to the peritoneum to prevent the stomach from contacting the cut surface of the liver.


RESULTS
Delayed gastric emptying developed in 4 of the patients in the non-fixation group (16%) versus none of the patients in the fixation group. According to univariate analysis, fixation significantly lowered the risk of delayed gastric emptying (p<0.05). The overall morbidity was higher in the non-fixation group (20.0%) than in the fixation patients (8.3%) without significance.


CONCLUSIONS
Fixation of the greater omentum to the peritoneum decreased the occurrence of delayed gastric emptying following left-sided hepatectomy.
Yoshida
Hiroshi
H
Department of Surgery 1, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan. hiroshiy@nms.ac.jp
Mamada
Yasuhiro
Y
Taniai
Nobuhiko
N
Mizuguchi
Yoshiaki
Y
Shimizu
Tetsuya
T
Takahashi
Tsubasa
T
Akimaru
Koho
K
Tajiri
Takashi
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005746:Gastric Emptying; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009852:Omentum; D010537:Peritoneum / Q000601:surgery; D013997:Time Factors