Laparoscopic deroofing of nonparasitic liver cysts with or without greater omentum flap.

BACKGROUND

Laparoscopic deroofing is the standard therapy for simple nonparasitic liver cysts. The operation is performed with or without a greater omentum flap sutured into the former cyst cavity. The aim of this study was to determine whether a greater omentum flap has influence on the recurrence rate of nonparasitic liver cysts during the long-term follow-up.

METHODS

From September 1999 to November 2009, 23 patients underwent laparoscopic deroofing for single or multiple nonparasitic symptomatic liver cysts. A greater omentum flap to fill the former cyst cavity was used in 8 patients, whereas in 15 patients operation was carried out without such an omentum flap. The patients were identified retrospectively and subject to a follow-up examination. The 2 groups of patients were compared according to the recurrence of the liver cysts.

RESULTS

The median follow-up time was 59±40 months. There was an overall recurrence rate of 4.3% (1 of 23), with 1 cyst recurrence in the greater omentum flap group (1 of 8). The Fisher exact test showed no difference in the recurrence rate between the 2 groups (P=0.35).

CONCLUSION

The overall recurrence rate is low. A greater omentum flap to prevent a local cyst recurrence after laparoscopic deroofing is dispensable and is a potential source of additional complications.