Comparison of laparoscopic and open liver hydatid cyst patients performed in our clinic

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate in detail the differences between the clinical outcomes of laparoscopic and open surgery in patients with hydatid cysts of the liver. Materials and Methods: Between 01/09/2019 and 10/08/2023, 117 patients who underwent surgery for hepatic hydatid cyst in your clinic at the Harran University Faculty of Medicine Hospital were included in the study. In this population, patients selected according to certain inclusion and exclusion criteria formed the sample group of the study. The sample consisted of patients over the age of 18 who did not have a history of recurrent surgery, who did not undergo laparoscopic to open surgery, who did not undergo cholecystectomy, who did not have an urgent rupture, and whose cyst originated from the liver. Data from patient records included factors such as surgical method, operation time, postoperative hospital stay, complications and pain score. Results: Regarding postoperative complications, 30 (25.64%) of the patients had complications, while 87 (74.36%) had no complications. The difference between the surgical method and the occurrence of postoperative complications was found to be statistically insignificant (p=0.370). The choice of surgical method did not make a significant difference in the development of complications. In the statistical analyses, the duration of surgery was found to be statistically significant in laparoscopic surgery compared to open surgery (p=0.004). Similarly, although the laparoscopic approach shortened the length of hospital stay, there was no statistically significant difference between the methods (p=0.39) (p>0.05). It was observed that the VAS score was lower in the laparoscopic method compared to the open surgical treatment at each hour and the VAS values at different hours were statistically significant according to the type of surgery (p:0.044 at hour 1, p:0.00 at hours 5 and 10, p<0.05). xii Conclusion: Compared with open surgery, the laparoscopic method was associated with shorter operation times and lower pain rates. In addition, although not statistically significant, we found that patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery had a shorter postoperative hospital stay. We believe that the laparoscopic technique is the preferred method for the surgical treatment of hepatic hydatid cysts because of its effectiveness in reducing operative time and postoperative pain scores, although it has similar complication rates to the open technique. It would be appropriate to support these data with prospective studies with larger samples in order to generalise the data. Key Words: Hydatid cyst, liver, surgical methods of treatment