Risk Factors Linked to Postoperative Morbidity in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: The aim of this study was to clarify the risk factors for morbidity as well as to establish an optimum surgical strategy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: The risk factors linked to postoperative complications were analysed in 388 patients over a 10-year period, according to the kind of operative procedure.

Results: Stepwise regression analysis revealed that the most important factors related to postoperative morbidity were: age, creatinine level and the histological grade of fibrosis for the bisegmentectomy; the presence of diabetes mellitus, blood urea nitrogen level, the indocyanine green dye retention rate at 15 min and blood loss for the segmentectomy; the presence of diabetes mellitus and blood loss for subsegmentectomy; the presence of diabetes mellitus, the aspartate aminotransferase level, and the total operating time for resection less than subsegmentectomy.

Conclusion: The most important risk factors were not always related to liver function tests, but instead to other coexisting conditions such as diabetes mellitus and operation stress including operating time and blood loss. Therefore, any future treatment strategy of hepatic resection for HCC should make every effort both to evaluate coexisting conditions carefully and to reduce operative stress as far as possible.