Long-Term Oncological Safety of Minimally Invasive Hepatectomy in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Case-Control Study

INTRODUCTION

Minimally invasive hepatectomy (MIH) for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is technically challenging, especially with large posteriorly located tumours or background of liver cirrhosis. This is a case-control study comparing the long-term oncological safety of HCC patients who underwent MIH and open hepatectomy (OH). Most of these patients have liver cirrhosis compared to other studies.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sixty patients were divided into 2 groups, 30 underwent MIH and 30 underwent OH for HCC resection. The patients in both groups were matched for extent of tumour resection, age and cirrhosis status. Patient characteristics, risk factors of HCC and all oncological data were studied.

RESULTS

Negative resection margins were achieved in 97% of patients in both groups. The mean blood loss during surgery was significantly lower in the MIH group compared to the OH group (361 mL vs 740 mL; 95% CI, 222.2, 734.9; P = 0.04). Hospitalisation is significantly shorter in MIH group (7 days vs 11 days; 95% CI, 6.9, 12.2,; P = 0.04). Eight patients (27%) in the MIH group and 13 patients (43%) in the OH group developed HCC recurrence (P = 0.17). One, 3 and 5 years disease-free survival between MIH and OH groups are 76% vs 55%, 58% vs 47%, and 58% vs 39% respectively (P = 0.18). One, 3 and 5 years overall survival between MIH and OH groups are 93% vs 78%, 89% vs 70%, and 59% vs 65% respectively (P = 0.41).

CONCLUSION

MIH is a safe and feasible curative treatment option for HCC with similar oncological outcomes compared to OH. MIH can be safely performed to remove tumours larger than 5 cm, in cirrhotic liver, as well as centrally and posterior located tumours. In addition, MIH patients have significant shorter hospitalisation and intraoperative blood loss.

A case-control study of single-incision versus standard laparoscopic cholecystectomy

BACKGROUND

Single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SILC) has been increasingly performed recently. Although it seems plausible that SILC will be associated with less pain compared to standard 4-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), there is currently no conclusive comparative study on the postoperative pain issues of SILC against LC.

METHODS

In this retrospective, case-control study, 30 patients who had SILC over a 6-month period were compared with a matched (sex, age group, race) group of 30 patients who underwent LC. Verbal pain score (VPS) on postoperative days (POD) 1, 2, 3, and 5; pain sites; analgesic requirement; and number of days (NoD) required to return to normal activities were compared.

RESULTS

There were 4 (13%) acute cholecystitis cases in each group. Average VPS on POD 1, 2, 3, and 5 of SILC and (LC) cholecystectomy patients were 4.53 (5.14) (P=0.09), 3.43 (3.83) (P=0.36), 2.07 (2.52) (P=0.25), and 1.13 (1.24) (P=0.69), respectively. In the SILC group, 26 patients (87%) had umbilical pain, whereas in the LC group, 25 patients (83%) had similar symptoms. Epigastric pain was experienced by 5 patients in the two groups, and RHC pain was experienced by 1 patient in the SILC group (3%) and 2 patients in the LC group (7%). The SILC and the LC patients required 4.00 and 4.90 days (P=0.09) of paracetamol, respectively, to control pain. The NoD required before return to normal activity in the SILC and LC groups was 5.97 days and 7.79 days (P=0.008), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

There was no statistically significant difference in postoperative pain, pain site and analgesia requirement; however, patients who underwent SILC returned to their normal activity 1.8 days earlier than the LC patients. Larger RCTs are needed to compare postoperative outcomes between SILC and LC.

Suspected oesophageal cancer in a 33 year old lady

A previously healthy 33 year old lady presented with acute dysphagia with endoscopic and CT features of oesophageal carcinoma. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) revealed a large subcarinal lymph node compressing at the mid-oesophagus. Fine-needle aspiration (FNA) showed a single well-formed epithelioid granuloma with no evidence of malignancy. Molecular analysis showed the aspirate to be positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. She continues to improve with standard anti-TB medication without surgery.This is a rare case of acute dysphagia secondary to primary tuberculous mediastinal lymphadenopathy. EUS and FNA have completely altered the clinical management of this lady.