Clinical application of absorbable clips in hepatectomy

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of application of absorbable clips in hepatectomy for reducing intraoperative bleeding, operation time, and postoperative complications. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of 315 patients who underwent hepatectomy in the department of hepatobiliary surgery from January 2010 to July 2012. These patients were divided into observation group ( n = 149) , among whom absorbable clips were used in hepatectomy, and control group ( n = 166) , among whom the conventional surgical approach was used. Intraoperative bleeding, operation time, bile leakage, surgical site infection, liver failure, material and hospitalization expenses, and reoperation due to active bleeding at surgical wound were evaluated. Continuous data were analyzed by t test, and categorical data were analyzed by chi-square analysis and Fisher's exact test. Results The intraoperative bleeding was significantly less in the observation group than in the control group ( 344. 59 ± 116. 78 vs 582. 90 ± 216. 17 ml, t = 11. 95, P < 0. 05) . The operation time was significantly shorter in the observation group than in the control group ( 205. 56 ± 45. 72 vs 270. 84 ± 33. 87 min, t = 14. 47, P < 0. 05) . The material expenses were significantly more in the observation group than in the control group ( 2849. 36 ± 84. 75 vs 567. 27 ± 56. 38 yuan, t =16. 21, P < 0. 05) , but there was no significant difference in hospitalization expenses between the observation group and control group ( 39 344. 52 ±521. 21 vs 38 872. 43 ±426. 05 yuan, t =0, P >0. 05) . After operation, bile leakage was found in one case in the observation group and 9 cases in the control group ( χ2= 5. 765, P < 0. 05) ; surgical site infection was found in 2 cases in the observation group and in 15 cases in the control group ( χ2= 9. 104, P < 0. 05) ; liver failure was found in 2 cases in the observation group and in 11 cases in the control group ( χ2= 5. 541, P < 0. 05) . No one underwent reoperation in the observation group, versus 6 cases in the control group ( χ2=7. 91, P < 0. 05) Conclusion The application of absorbable clips in hepatectomy can reduce intraoperative bleeding, operation time, and postoperative complications.