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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Jan 27, 2026; 18(1): 114262
Published online Jan 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i1.114262
Published online Jan 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i1.114262
Laparoscopic hepatectomy is feasible for patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma and cirrhotic liver
Krerkrit Kijpongpans, Department of Surgery, Naresuan University Hospital, Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand
Shunichi Ariizumi, Yusuke Ome, Yusuke Kawamoto, Yutaro Matsunaga, Goro Honda, Department of Surgery, Institute of Gastroenterology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Shinjuku 162-8666, Tokyo, Japan
Author contributions: Kijpongpans K conceptualized and designed the study, collected and analyzed the clinical data, and drafted the manuscript; Ariizumi S, Ome Y, Kawamoto Y, Matsunaga Y, and Honda G contributed to patient recruitment and data interpretation and critically revised the manuscript for intellectual content; All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol adhered to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and this study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Tokyo Women’s Medical University (Approval No. 2024-0133).
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was waived due to the retrospective nature of the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with the senior author or other coauthors who contributed their efforts in this manuscript.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Available on request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Goro Honda, MD, Department of Surgery, Institute of Gastroenterology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjuku 162-8666, Tokyo, Japan.
Received: September 22, 2025
Revised: October 24, 2025
Accepted: November 21, 2025
Published online: January 27, 2026
Processing time: 123 Days and 3.8 Hours
Revised: October 24, 2025
Accepted: November 21, 2025
Published online: January 27, 2026
Processing time: 123 Days and 3.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Laparoscopic hepatectomy (LH) is a feasible and safe procedure for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and moderate cirrhosis, particularly Liver Damage Grading System grade B or C. In this single-center retrospective study with propensity score matching, LH significantly reduced intraoperative blood loss and postoperative ascites, shortened hospital stay, and improved 5-year overall survival compared with open hepatectomy. The Liver Damage Grading System provides a practical tool for selecting surgical candidates. These findings support LH as a preferred approach in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and grade B liver damage, optimizing long-term outcomes while preserving liver function.