Hemihepatic ischemia for laparoscopic liver resection.

Laparoscopic hepatectomy has been recently proposed for the treatment of liver tumors. However, because of technical difficulties such as control of hemorrhage from the transection plane and large intrahepatic veins, laparoscopic hepatectomy has not been widely developed. The technique of hemihepatic ischemia has been used by the authors in conventional liver resection over the past 10 years with reduced splanchnic congestion and excellent hemostatic control. To minimize both intraoperative bleeding and circulatory and biochemical disturbances due to the interruption of blood flow to the liver, the authors describe a new technique combining hemihepatic ischemia and laparoscopic liver resection.