Hemi-hepatectomy in pediatric patients using two-surgeon technique and a liver hanging maneuver.

AIM: To evaluate the efficacy of the two-surgeon technique with the liver hanging maneuver (LHM) for hepatectomies in pediatric patients with hepatoblastoma.

METHODS

Three pediatric patients with hepatoblastoma were enrolled in this study. Two underwent right hemi-hepatectomies and one underwent a left hemi-hepatectomy using the two-surgeon technique by means of saline-linked electric cautery (SLC) and the Cavitron Ultrasonic Surgical Aspirator (CUSA; Valleylab, Boulder, CO) and the LHM.

RESULTS

The mean operative time during the parenchymal transections was 50 min and the mean blood loss was 235 g. There was no bile leakage from the cut surface after surgery. No macroscopic or microscopic-positive margins were observed in the hepatic transections.

CONCLUSION

The two-surgeon technique using SLC and CUSA with the LHM is applicable to even pediatric patients with hepatoblastoma.