Abstract
Purpose
The impact of postoperative bile leak on the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent liver resection is controversial. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic impact of bile leak for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent liver resection.
Methods
Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent liver resection between 2009 and 2019 at Kobe University Hospital and Hyogo Cancer Center were included. After propensity score matching between the bile leak and no bile leak groups, differences in 5-year recurrence-free and overall survival rates were evaluated using the Kaplan–Meier method.
Results
A total of 779 patients, including 43 with postoperative bile leak, were analyzed. In the matched cohort, 41 patients were included in each group. The 5-year recurrence-free survival rates after liver resection were 34% and 29% for the bile leak and no bile leak groups, respectively (P = 0.877). The 5-year overall survival rates were 45% and 52% for the bile leak and no bile leak groups, respectively (P = 0.360).
Conclusion
Overall, bile leak did not have a profound negative impact on the prognosis of patients included in this study. Proper management of bile leak could be attributed to reducing its negative impact on prognosis.