Laparoscopy for liver hydatid disease: where do we stand today?

Hydatid disease mostly affects the liver with Echinococcus granulosus being the most common organism. Surgery remains the gold standard in terms of therapy for patients with echinococcosis of the liver despite significant economic costs, advances in medical treatment, and interventional radiology. Laparoscopy, as a minimally invasive surgery, has well-known clinical advantages over traditional surgery. Several reports have confirmed the benefit of a laparoscopic approach to liver hydatid disease. We describe our technique and analyze numerous reports of laparoscopic hydatid liver surgery along with our results.