Safety and feasibility of laparoscopic liver resection for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a propensity score-matched study

Abstract

Background Laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) is controversial in treating intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the safety and feasibility of LLR for the treatment of ICC and explored the independent factors affecting the long-term prognosis of ICC. Methods We included 170 patients undergoing hepatectomy for ICC from December 2010 to December 2021 and divided them into LLR group and open liver resection (OLR) group. We used propensity score matching (PSM) analysis to reduce the impact of data bias and confounding variables and then compared the short-term and long-term prognosis of LLR and OLR in treating ICC; Cox proportional hazards regression model was adopted to explore the independent factors affecting the long-term prognosis of ICC. Results A total of 105 patients (70 in the LLR group and 35 in the OLR group) were included after 2:1 PSM analysis. There was no difference in demographic characteristics and preoperative indexes between the two groups. The perioperative results of the OLR group were worse than those of the LLR group, that is, the intraoperative blood transfusion rate (24 (68.6) vs 21 (30.0)), blood loss (500 (200–1500) vs 200 (100–525)), and the morbidity of major postoperative complications (9 (25.7) vs 6 (8.5)) in the OLR group were worse than those in LLR group. LLR could enable patients to obtain an equivalent long-term prognosis compared to OLR. The Cox proportional hazards regression model exhibited that no matter before or after PSM, preoperative serum CA12-5 and postoperative hospital stay were independent factors affecting overall survival, while only lymph node metastasis independently influenced recurrence-free survival. Conclusions Compared with ICC treated by OLR, the LLR group obtained superior perioperative period outcomes. In the long run, LLR could enable ICC patients to receive an equivalent long-term prognosis compared to OLR. In addition, ICC patients with preoperative abnormal CA12-5, lymph node metastasis, and more extended postoperative hospital stay might suffer from a worse long-term prognosis. However, these conclusions still need multicenter extensive sample prospective research to demonstrate.

Laparoscopic versus open liver resection for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a systematic review of propensity score-matched studies

“…Twelve studies were further evaluated for full text. Ten studies that met all inclusion criteria were finally included in the meta-analysis [ 16 , 19 – 27 ]. The flow diagram of the literature inclusion is presented in Fig.…”

Efficacy and safety of totally laparoscopic gastrectomy with uncut Roux-en-Y for gastric cancer: a dual-center retrospective study

“…For prognosis, estimate the OS or the RFS by Kaplan–Meier (KM) method and compare the two groups. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to explore independent factors affecting OS or RFS [ 25 ]. Firstly, perform univariate analysis.…”