A simplified technique for hepatic resection: the crush method.

A new technique of hepatic lobectomy with combined use of hepatic clamp and liver crush clamp is described. It is a simplification of the original finger fracture technique by using instruments instead of fingers for hepatic resection. It provides the unexperienced with a technique of hepatic resection done in the shortest possible time and in an almost bloodless field with safety. Since February 1973 the author has performed 5 hepatic resections with this crush method for primary liver cell carcinoma. The blood transfusion averaged 200 ml and the operation time averaged 1.5 hours. No complication or mortality was encountered and the patients were invariably discharged within 14 days after the operation.