Liver Resection

What is liver resection?

Liver resection (hepatectomy) is a surgery to remove part of your liver to treat liver diseases like cancer if medications or other therapies aren’t effective.

You might also need a liver resection if you plan to donate a portion of your liver to another person.

While your liver is responsible for many important digestive functions, you can live a healthy life with just one-third of the organ. If the rest of your liver is healthy, your liver can grow back to its original size after resection surgery.

What happens during liver resection?

Southwest Surgical Associates offers laparoscopic, robotic, and open surgery for liver resection. Because your liver contains a lot of blood vessels, bleeding can be a complication. The surgeons have extensive training in advanced liver resection techniques to minimize risks.

If the surgeons remove only a small portion of your liver, they may use laparoscopic techniques, including the da Vinci® robotic surgery system. These techniques are minimally invasive and only require four to six small incisions to access and remove part of your liver.

When you have more serious liver disease, the surgeons may need to use open techniques that require longer, deeper incisions to remove more than half of your liver.

How long does it take to recover from liver resection?

After a minimally invasive laparoscopic liver resection, you may need to stay in the hospital for a few days for observation.

If you have a more complex surgery, you can expect to remain in intensive care for a few days, so the surgeons can drain excess fluids and monitor your vital signs closely.

The surgeons recommend a liquid diet for a few days after a liver resection. As you recover, you can reintroduce solid foods into your diet. It’s also vital that you start moving around at your surgeon’s recommendation to enhance your recovery.

While everyone heals differently, you should be able to resume work and low-impact activities within 4-8 weeks of your surgery. The Southwest Surgical Associates providers continue to monitor your healing process during a follow-up visit to determine when you can get back to exercise and other strenuous activities.

To schedule a liver resection consultation, call the Southwest Surgical Associates office near you today or book an appointment online.

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