title: Minor hepatic resection using heat coagulative necrosis.
abstract: Intra- and postoperative bleeding represents an extremely serious and frequent complication of hepatic surgery. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of a radiofrequency (RF) device using heat to cause coagulative necrosis of the hepatic parenchyma to control hemostasis in minor hepatic resection. Between December 2005 and November 2007, a study was conducted of 21 patients undergoing 22 hepatic resections with the RF-assisted technique. Sixteen of these were affected by hepatocellular carcinoma and five had liver metastases from colorectal cancer. Intraoperative blood loss, the need for blood transfusion, the complication rates, operating times, and the duration of postoperative hospitalization were evaluated. Four segmentectomies and 18 tumor-ectomies were performed. The average blood loss was of 15.7 mL (range, 0-40 mL); the average operating time was 25.7 minutes (range, 12-43 minutes); the mean postoperative hospital stay was 8.2 days (range, 3-49 days) with a median of 6.0 days. The authors concluded that the RF-assisted technique can be a useful method not only for reducing blood loss and avoiding blood transfusions, but also for reducing operating time and postoperative hospitalization for minor liver resections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Division of General and Oncological Surgery, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy. sandonatoluigi@libero.it
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sandonato
authors.forename: Calogero
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cipolla
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fulfaro
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lo Re
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Latteri
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Terranova
authors.forename: Achille
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mastrosimone
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bova
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cabibbo
authors.forename: Mario Adelfio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Latteri
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical / Q000517:prevention & control; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000601:surgery*; D017115:Catheter Ablation; D005260:Female; D006400:Hematocrit; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006488:Hemostasis, Surgical / Q000379:methods*; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins