Duration of surgical liver resection & hospital stay

It is difficult to determine the exact duration of the operation in advance. The duration varies depending on the type of procedure chosen (open vs. laparoscopic), the complexity of the resection and the occurrence of complications. A liver resection can thus take between three and seven hours.

After the operation, the patient is usually admitted to the intensive care unit for 24 hours, a precautionary measure in order to be able to optimally check the vital functions postoperatively and to be able to react best to possible complications after the operation. The length of hospital stay is between four and eight days, but in case of complications this length of stay can be extended. Overall, it depends very much on the individual circumstances of the patient. A follow-up treatment, i.e. rehabilitation, is usually not planned.

Complications

Every surgical intervention involves risks. First of all, complications can occur during anesthesia, such as allergies to the anesthetics used. In addition, soft tissue, nerves and blood vessels can be damaged by the surgical procedure.

Damage to blood vessels can cause bleeding. As a rule, bleeding can be quickly controlled by the surgeon and does not pose a life-threatening threat to the patient. In rare cases, however, extensive bleeding may occur and transfusion of foreign or autologous blood that has been previously donated may be necessary.

Blood transfusions are often necessary for liver resections because the liver is an organ with a very high blood supply. Blood transfusions can lead to infections that are harmful to the patient. In extremely rare cases, blood transfusions can transmit infectious diseases such as hepatitis.

Fortunately, strict controls on blood products have made these transmissions very rare. Infections can also occur during the operation itself. The causes of these infections can be very different: Accumulations of residual blood (haematomas) can become inflamed, but they can also injure surrounding organs such as the intestine, causing bacteria to escape and infect the abdominal cavity.

This also makes surgical treatment of the intestine necessary. The escape of bile from the bile ducts during or after the operation is also problematic, as it can lead to inflammation of the peritoneum, making a new operation necessary. Furthermore, fistulas can form, but these rarely cause problems in the course of the operation.

Injuries or obstruction of the draining bile ducts can result in the bile not draining off properly and accumulation of bile. It is possible that jaundice (icterus) may occur. In this case, a new procedure is necessary to allow the bile to drain away.

In the case of resection in case of a tumor disease, tumor cells may be carried over, but this is very rare as the surgeons are very careful to prevent this. In addition, there are other complications that can occur in all surgical procedures: the risk of thrombosis or embolism, which can additionally affect the lungs (pulmonary embolism), the heart (heart attack) or the brain (stroke). It can also lead to wound healing disorders in the suture area. It may also be necessary to change the surgical procedure in order to avoid or solve complications. In order to minimize the risks and complications of this operation, there are some future-oriented procedures, such as minimally invasive surgery or CT and MRI-supported procedures.