Surgical management of hydatid disease of the liver: a military experience.

Hydatid disease of the liver is highly prevalent in oriental countries including Turkey, in which their population live mostly in rural areas. The outcome of surgical methods used in the management of a cystic cavity in patients with hepatic hydatid disease was evaluated. Three hundred and forty consecutive patients who presented to Department of General Surgery between 1988 and 1996 with hepatic hydatid disease were reviewed retrospectively. In the first group surgical methods without drainage such as cystectomy (n = 11), capitonnage (n = 55), omentoplasty (n = 91) and capitonnage + omentoplasty (n = 53), in the second group surgery with drainage such as external drainage (n = 74), internal drainage (n = 7), and combined methods (n = 21) were applied. Symptoms, physical findings, types of surgical management, complication rate, hospitalisation period, mortality and recurrence rates were evaluated. Complication rate, average hospitalisation period, recurrence and mortality rates were 12.5%, 9.5 days, 9.9% and 0% respectively in patients without drainage and 63.7%, 26.5 days, 12.7% and 0.9% respectively in patients with drainage. It is concluded that surgical treatment of hydatid disease of the liver without drainage decreases postoperative complication rate and average hospitalisation period, and drainage or nondrainage of cystic cavity has no effect on recurrence.