Beneficial impact of microwave ablation-assisted laparoscopic hepatectomy in cirrhotic hepatocellular carcinoma patients: a propensity score matching analysis

Purpose: In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of microwave ablation-assisted laparoscopic hepatectomy (MLH) for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhotic patients. Methods: Data from HCC patients with liver cirrhosis who underwent laparoscopic hepatectomy (LH) or MLH in Shengjing Hospital (Shenyang, China) were retrospectively analyzed from January 2013 to June 2017. The demographic characteristics, clinical features, intraoperative parameters and surgical outcomes were analyzed and compared. Propensity scores matching (PSM) analysis was used to minimize bias. Results: A total of 54 patients were enrolled in the MLH group and 39 patients in the LH group. Following 1:1 matching by PSM analysis, 26 patients were selected from each group. Compared to the LH group, patients in the MLH group had significantly decreased intraoperative bleeding (48.0 vs. 203.9 ml, p < .0001) and reduced demand for hepatic inflow occlusion (0 vs. 6, p = .009). No significant difference was observed in average operation time (155.7 vs. 148.5 min) and postoperative hospitalization time (8.3 vs. 9.3 d) between the MLH and LH groups. Similarly, the 1-year and 3-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates as well as the 1-year and 3-year overall survival (OS) rates of the MLH and LH groups were not significantly different (83.1 vs. 82.4% and 64.6 vs. 36.6% as well as 100 vs. 95.8% and 93.8 vs. 59.1%, respectively: p > .05). Conclusions: MLH significantly decreased intraoperative bleeding and reduced the need for hepatic occlusion without compromising the surgical outcome. Therefore, microwave ablation could be a valuable tool for LH in HCC patients with cirrhosis.