Hepatobiliary Surgery

Liver

The liver breaks down food to energize the body and creates bile, a substance which aids in digestion. The liver also removes toxins from the body, as well as stores iron, vitamins and minerals.

 

Liver Conditions

Types of common liver conditions include:

• Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) – the most common primary liver tumor.
• Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) – the second most common primary liver tumor.
• Metastatic liver lesions – cancer that has spread from other cancers in the body, including:
  • Colorectal cancer.
  • Neuroendocrine tumors.
  • Breast cancer.
  • Testicular cancer.

Benign liver lesions that may require treatment:

• Liver abscess – a pus-filled sore inside the liver caused by an infection.
• Liver cysts – abnormal fluid-filled sacs.
• Adenomas – a benign tumor that’s caused by hormones.
• Hemangiomas – a common type of benign liver tumor that’s made up of tangled blood vessels and can occur at any time.

 

Treatment Options

• Intraoperative ultrasound – produces high-resolution images to locate and treat tumors to allow resection while preserving the vascular pedicles.
• Partial hepatectomy – surgical technique used to remove only the diseased section of the liver by segmental/subsegmental resection.
• Formal hepatectomy – removal of half the liver or more if the tumor is large.
• Radio frequency ablation (RFA) – technology that uses heat to destroy tumors under ultrasound guidance.
• Microwave ablation (MA) – another technology that uses microwaves to destroy tumors. This applies faster heating and higher temperatures than RFA, and can work around large vessels.

Pancreas

The pancreas creates fluids which break down food, and produces hormones to stabilize blood sugar levels.

 

Pancreatic Conditions

• Adenocarcinoma – The most common type of pancreatic cancer, which starts inside the glands of the pancreas.
• Neuroendocrine tumors (islet cell tumors) – tumors that form in the cells that create hormones.
• Cystic neoplasms – fluid-filled cysts that are benign, precancerous or contain cancer.

 

Treatment Options

• Open and laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy – surgical procedure to remove tumors located in the body and tail of the pancreas.
• Whipple procedure (pancreaticoduodenectomy) – a complex surgical procedure that is most often used to remove pancreatic cancer at the head of the pancreas. This procedure can also be used to treat tumors in the distal bile duct. We perform vascular resection and reconstruction for borderline tumors (tumors close to the main blood vessels supplying the intestines).

Bile Ducts and Gallbladder

The bile ducts and gallbladder work together to move and store bile, which aids in digestion.

 

Bile Duct and Gallbladder Conditions

• Hilar cholangiocarcinoma – a specific type of cancer that occurs in the bile ducts leading out the liver and connected to the gallbladder.
• Choledochal cysts – congenital cysts of the bile duct.
• Gallbladder cancer – a type of cancer that often produces no symptoms. It can be difficult to treat when diagnosis is discovered in its later stages.

 

Treatment Options

• Bile duct resection – removing the sections that are affected and reconnecting the ducts.
• Radical gallbladder surgery – removing the gallbladder and a portion of surrounding liver as well as the surrounding lymph nodes.