Is surgical treatment of liver hemangiomas effective for pain relief?
BACKGROUND
Traditional treatment for liver hemangiomas is surgery. Currently, it is controversial whether hemangioma surgeries are sufficiently beneficial for the patients. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of surgery in patients with liver hemangiomas.


METHODS
Forty-two patients who underwent surgical operations for hepatic hemangiomas were retrospectively evaluated and interviewed.


RESULTS
Study population included 36 female and 6 male patients whose ages ranged between 26 and 65 years (mean age, 47.8 +-8.7 years). Their mean duration of hospitalization was 6 days (range, 3 - 59 days). The median time since surgery was 50 months (range 0-120 months). There was a statistically significant decrease in numerical rating and adjective rating pain scale scores (p 0.05). Postoperatively, pain did not cease in 10 patients (peptic ulcers requiring medical treatment in four patients, cholelithiasis in four patients, and nephrolithiasis in two patients).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with cavernous hemangiomas of the liver who require surgical treatment have significant benefits in terms of pain relief following surgery. The lack of pain relief after the surgery in some patients may be related to concomitant medical problems other than the hemangioma.
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EG
Dumlu
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O
Abbasoglu
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E
Hamaloglu
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006392:Hemangioma, Cavernous / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006498:Hepatectomy; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome