Liver Surgery: Important Considerations for Pre- and Postoperative Imaging

• DOI: 10.1148/rg.210124
• Publication Date: 2022-04-01T17:11:48Z
• Authors: Luisa Leitão de F...; George Felipe Darce; André Leopoldino ...; Paulo Herman; Vagner Birk Jeismann; Iraí Santana de O...; Cinthia D. Ortega; Manoel de Souza R...
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; Postoperative Complications; 0302 clinical medicine; Liver Neoplasms; Hepatectomy; Humans; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; 3. Good health

Liver surgery may be a curative treatment option not only for primary liver neoplasms but also for liver metastases in selected patients. The number of liver surgeries performed worldwide has increased, but surgical morbidity associated with these surgeries remains significant. Therefore, radiologists need to understand the terminology, surgical techniques, resectability and unresectability criteria, and possible postoperative complications as these are part of the decision-making process. Because vascular and biliary variations are common, an adequate preoperative anatomic evaluation determines the best surgical technique, helps identify patients in whom additional surgical steps will be required, and reduces the risk of inadvertent injury. The surgeon must ensure that the future liver remnant is sufficient to maintain adequate function, aided by the radiologist who can provide valuable information such as the presence of steatosis, biliary dilatation, signs of cirrhosis, and portal hypertension, in addition to the volume of the future liver remnant. Postoperative complications must also be understood and evaluated. The most common postoperative complications are vascular (bleeding, thrombosis, and ischemia), biliary (fistulas, bilomas, and strictures), infectious (incisional or deep), those related to liver failure, and even tumor recurrence. An invited commentary by Winslow is available online. Online supplemental material is available for this article. ©RSNA, 2022.