Safety and feasibility of laparoscopic liver resection for patients with large or multiple intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas: A propensity score based case-matched analysis from a single institute

Only a few high-volume centers have reported the efficacy of laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) for patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). The minimally invasive approach is still controversial for ICC, especially when dealing with large (≥5 cm) or multiple (≥2) ICCs. Patients with large and multiple ICCs who underwent LLR or open hepatectomy (OH) between January 2012 and June 2017 were included. Furthermore, 1:2 propensity score matching (PSM) was performed between the LLR group and the OH group. Short- and long-term outcomes were compared between the different techniques. After PSM, LLR resulted in significantly longer operation time (median 225 minutes vs 190 minutes, P = .006) and pringle maneuver time (median 50 minutes vs 32.5 minutes, P = .001). There was no statistically significant difference in postoperative hospital stay between the different approaches (median 6 days vs 7 days, P = .092). The grade III/IV complication rates were comparable between the groups (5.6% vs 11.1%, P = .868). In the PSM subset, there was no significant difference in terms of overall survival (P = .645) or disease-free survival (P = .827) between patients in the LLR group and in the OH group. The present study showed that patients who underwent LLR for large or multiple ICCs could obtain similar short- and long-term outcomes compared with those who underwent OH, and lymph node dissection (LND) was technically difficult but feasible during LLR.