Ultrasonic aspiration hepatectomy for 136 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To study the operative injury, post-operative complications, the hospitalization time, the postoperative survival rate of ultrasonic aspiration hepatectomy with a domestic new type of ultrasonic surgical device in comparison with that of conventional techniques of hepatectomy. METHODS: A total 136 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, including 12 patients in 1991 and 124 consecutive patients from July 1995 to December 2 000) underwent ultrasonic aspiration in liver resection (group T) and 179 HCC patients received conventional hepatectomy during the corresponding period (group C). The results of the two groups were compared statistically. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the mean operation time between group T (152+/-11 min) and C (144 11 min). No operation or hospital death occurred in both groups. In group T, the mean volumes of bleeding (463+/-15 ml) and blood transfusion (381 12 ml) were markedly less than those in group C (557 20 ml, and 507 18 ml, respectively, P<0.05). The mean hospitalization time of group T (8.9+/-0.6 d) was markedly shorter than that of group C (11.7d+/-0.6 d) (P<0.05). The incidence of complications in group T was markedly lower than in group C, post-operative jaundice occurred in 4/136 and 31/179, respectively (P<0.05), liver failure in 0/136 and 2/179, cholorrhea in 0/136 and 6/179, hydrothorax in 21/136 and 39/179 (P<0.05), ascices in 9/136 and 54/179, respectively (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the 1-year survival rate between the two groups (P>0.05), while the 3-year survival rate of group T (64.2 %) increased markedly as compared with that of group C (55.7 %) (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: The ultrasonic aspiration hepatectomy with a domestic new type of ultrasonic surgical device could evidently reduce the operative injury and postoperative complications, shorten the hospitalization time and prolong the survivals of HCC patients.