Surgical treatment of hydatid disease of the liver.

This report reviews 21 capsulorrhaphies for for hydatid disease of the liver. At operation, the cysts were intact, with clear fluid, and there was no gross bile oozing in the residual hepatic cavity. The largest amount of normal saline solution that filled a cavity in the right lobe was 650 ml. Only one patient (5%) underwent a second operation 16 days after the first one for infection that developed in a right lobe cavity after capsulorrhaphy. Insertion of a drain secured the recovery in three weeks. In retrospect, retention of a daughter cyst that was recovered at the second operation could account for this complication. The postoperative hospitalization period was eight to ten days for these patients. One can conclude from this experience that capsulorrhaphy has solved the problem of residual cavity provided that the technical points are observed.