Impact of post-hepatectomy biliary leaks on long-term survival in different liver tumors: A single institute experience

Authors

Devesh Sanjeev Ballal, Advocate Health - MidwestFollow
Shraddha Patkar, Department of Surgical Oncology, GI and HPB Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Aditya Kunte, Department of Surgical Oncology, GI and HPB Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Sridhar Sundaram, Department of Digestive Diseases and Clinical Nutrition, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Nitin Shetty, Department of Radiodiagnosis, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Kunal Gala, Department of Radiodiagnosis, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Suyash Kulkarni, Department of Radiodiagnosis, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.
Mahesh Goel, Department of Surgical Oncology, GI and HPB Services, Tata Memorial Hospital, Homi Bhabha National Institute, Mumbai, India.

Recommended Citation

Ballal DS, Patkar S, Kunte A, et al. Impact of post-hepatectomy biliary leaks on long-term survival in different liver tumors: A single institute experience. Ann Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg. Published online July 17, 2024. doi:10.14701/ahbps.24-078

Affiliations

Advocate Lutheran General Hospital

Abstract

Backgrounds/aims:A postoperative biliary leak is one of the most morbid complications occurring after a liver resection, the long-term impact of which remains unknown.

Methods:Retrospective analysis of consecutive liver resections performed from 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2021. Primary endpoint of disease-free survival (DFS) was compared between patients with and without a bile leak, stratifying for tumor type. Survival curves were plotted using Kaplan-Meier estimates, and differences between them were analyzed using the log-rank test.

Results:In toto, 862 patients were analyzed, and included 306 (35.5%) hepatocellular carcinomas, 212 (24.6%) metastatic colorectal cancers, and 111 (12.9%) cholangiocarcinomas (69 intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas, 42 hilar cholangiocarcinomas). Occurrence of a bile leak was associated with significantly poorer DFS only in patients with cholangiocarcinoma (median DFS 9.9 months vs. 24.9 months, p = 0.013), and further analysis was restricted to this cohort. A Cox regression performed for factors associated with DFS detriment in patients with cholangiocarcinoma showed that apart from node positivity (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.482, p = 0.033) and margin positivity (HR: 2.65, p = 0.021), development of a bile leak was independently associated with worsening DFS on both univariate and multiple regression analyses (HR: 1.896, p = 0.033).

Conclusions:Post-hepatectomy biliary leaks are associated with significantly poorer DFS only in patients with cholangiocarcinoma, but not in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma or metastatic colorectal cancer. Methods to mitigate this survival detriment need to be explored.

Document Type

Article

PubMed ID

39013882