Left-Sided Hepatectomy With a Linear Stapling Device: An Experimental Study on Pigs

Abstract

Thirteen pigs underwent resection of the left liver lobe. By random selection, the animals were resected either with the aid of an RLG 90^R linear stapling device or by the conventional finger-fracture technique. There was one postoperative death due to anaesthetic complications. The median operative time using the stapler was 27 min (range 19–40 min) which was significantly shorter (p = 0.0065) than that required for resection by the finger-fracture technique (42.5 min; range 37–55 min).The median blood loss, estimated by counting the number of gauze swabs used, was 425 ml and 275 ml for the finger-fracture resected and stapler resected groups, respectively (ranges 275–550 ml versus 175– 300 ml; p = 0.015).The animals were sacrificed and examined one week after the operative procedure. Except for a small bile pseudo-cyst in one pig operated upon with conventional resection, no sign of bleeding or biliary leakage was revealed.This study demonstrates the feasibility of stapling the liver to facilitate resection.