Segmental liver resection in a child using intraoperative ultrasound-guided radiofrequency energy.
Segmental surgical liver resection is still considered the only potentially curative option for patients with resectable liver tumors. Intraoperative bleeding may be a dangerous complication even in an expert's hands. A bloodless technique of radiofrequency (RF)-assisted segmental liver resection was performed in a 9-year-old girl with a mycobacterial spindle cell pseudotumor of the liver. Under intraoperative ultrasound guidance, the liver parenchyma was coagulated along the marked resection plane by a single "cooled-tip" RF electrode and then divided with a surgical knife. A nearly bloodless resection of the parenchyma was achieved within 25 minutes. The patient was discharged on the fifth postoperative day without complications. My early experience shows that RF-assisted liver resection offers a valuable additional option for bloodless removal of liver tumors in pediatric age.
Vaos
George
G
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Penteli General Children's Hospital, 15236 Athens, Greece. gvaos@hotmail.com
D017115:Catheter Ablation; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000601:surgery*; D009164:Mycobacterium Infections / Q000150:complications; D014463:Ultrasonography