A liver surgery scoring system developed in the UK has correlated with outcomes seen in American patients.
The Halls/Southampton Laparoscopic Liver Difficulty Score predicts the risk for intraoperative complications during minimally invasive liver resections.
It has now been shown to correlate with operative outcomes seen in American patients, including estimated blood loss, operative time and length of stay, according to data from eight centres participating in the Americas Minimally Invasive Liver Resection (AMILES) registry.
The study was based on a retrospective analysis of 1,051 patients in the registry who underwent a minimally invasive hepatic resection. Patients were scored based on the Halls/Southampton and IWATE scoring systems.
The patients’ outcomes correlated with the Halls/Southampton Laparoscopic Liver Difficulty Score but the IWATE scoring system did not correlate with operative outcomes or postoperative complication rates.
This may reflect differences in East and West populations. The IWATE system was developed in Japan where resection for hepatocellular carcinoma is common. Whereas the US has higher rates of resection for colorectal liver metastases, said study co-author Yasmin Essaji, MD, a fellow in hepatobiliary surgery at Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center.
The investigators said more research will be needed to better delineate the predictive potential for the scoring systems.
They did not differentiate between laparoscopic and robotic-assisted surgery in this analysis, but plan to assess those differences as more centres join the registry.
