Benefits of laparoscopic procedures include less post operative discomfort & pain since the incisions are much smaller, quicker recovery times, shorter hospital stays, earlier return to full activities and much smaller scars. Furthermore, there may be less internal scarring when the procedures are performed in a minimally invasive fashion compared to standard open surgery.
The laparoscopic procedures performed on the liver are:
- Radiofrequency ablation of liver tumors
- Wedge resection of the liver for liver metastasis
- Removal of left half of the left lobe of the liver (in selected patients)
- Removal of right half of liver ( in selected patients)
- Drainage of liver abscess
- Drainage or removal of liver cysts
Laparoscopic Liver Cyst Drainage
Cysts in the liver are frequently found in normal people. Liver cysts should only be treated if they are causing significant symptoms to the patient. The symptoms found with liver cysts include pain, bleeding into the cysts causing pain, and digestive complaints that are unexplained by other findings. If a liver cyst requires treatment, surgical treatment should include removal of the wall of the cyst.
Removal of the fluid only from the cyst is not recommended since the cyst fills up rapidly after the procedure. Furthermore this procedure puts the patient at risk for infection of the cyst. We offer a laparoscopic approach to patients who require treatment of liver cysts. The procedure involves removing part of the wall of the cyst so that the liquid that is in the cyst can freely drain into the abdominal cavity. The body then removes the liquid from the abdominal cavity.
- Radiofrequency ablation of liver tumors
- Laparoscopic liver resection (removal)
- Laparoscopic wedge resection of the liver
- Laparoscopic left lateral segment removal
- Laparoscopic right hepatectomy