Clinical efficacy of laparoscopic splenectomy combined with pericardial devascularization in the treatment of cirrhotic portal hypertension: a report of 425 cases

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of laparoscopic splenectomy combined with pericardial devascularization in the treatment of cirrhotic patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension. Methods The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 425 patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension who were admitted to Northern Jiangsu People′s Hospital Affiliated to Yangzhou University were collected. There were 289 males and 136 females, aged (53±11)years, with a range from 21 to 79 years. All the patients were allocated into 3 periods according to the operation time, including 100 patients of early period from February 2012 to March 2014, 156 patients of mature technology period from April 2014 to August 2016, and 169 patients of technology innovation period from september 2016 to December 2018. The patients of early period and mature technology period underwent laparoscopic splenectomy combined with pericardial devascularization, and the patients of technology innovation period underwent vagus nerve-preserving laparoscopic splenectomy combined with pericardial devascularization. Observation indicators: (1) surgical situations; (2) postoperative situations; (3) follow-up. Patients were followed up by outpatient examination to detect the upper digestive rebleeding, gastric retention, and diarrhea up to March 2019. Sequential therapy of endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL) was slectively performed on patients based on results of gastroscopy. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean±SD, and comparison between groups was analyzed using ANOVA, and paired comparison was analyzed using the t test. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M (range), and comparison between groups was anlyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis rank sum test, and paired comparison was analyzed using the rank sum test. Count data were described as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test and Fisher exact probability. Results (1) Surgical situations: the operation time, volume of intraoperative blood loss, cases with intraoperative blood transfusion, cases with conversion to open surgery, and cases with emergency operation for bleeding were (187±46)minutes, 150 mL (range, 50-1 300 mL), 2, 2 , 1 for patients of early period, (164±22)minutes, 50 mL (range, 30-100 mL), 1, 1, 1 for patients of mature technology period, and (150±18)minutes, 50 mL (range, 10-300 mL), 0 , 0 , 0 for patients of technology innovation period, respectively. There were significant differences in the operation time and volume of intraoperative blood loss between the three groups (F=55.482, χ2=94.620, P 0.05). (2) Postoperative situations: 425 patients had oral aspirin enteric-coated tablets for prevention of thrombus, with no perioperative death. Duration of postoperative hospital stay, cases with portal vein thrombosis at postoperative 7 days, cases with pancreatic fistula, cases with pulmonary infection, and cases with abdominal infection were (11.0±2.9)days, 46, 2, 1, 0 for patients of early period, (9.9±1.7)days, 81, 3, 0, 0 for patients of mature technology period, and (8.8±1.3)days, 83, 2, 1, 1 for patients of technology innovation period, respectively. There was a significant difference in the duration of postoperative hospital stay between the three groups (F=39.836, P 0.05) and no significant difference in the cases with pancreatic fistula, cases with pulmonary infection, or cases with abdominal infection between the three groups (P>0.05). Patients with portal vein thrombosis at postoperative 7 days had oral aspirin enteric-coated tablets or warfarin for treatment. Patients with pancreatic fistula, pulmonary infection, and abdominal infection were cured and discharged after conservative treatment. (3) Follow-up: all the 425 patients were followed up for 1-72 months, with a median follow-up of 36 months. Of the 425 patients, 261 underwent postoperative sequential therapy of EVL, including 133 patients of mature technology period and 128 patients of technology innovation period. The incidence rate of upper digestive rebleeding was 3.83%(10/261) of the 261 patients undergoing postoperative sequential therapy of EVL and 17.68%(29/164) of 164 patients without postoperative sequential therapy of EVL, showing a significant difference between them (χ2=23.185, P<0.05). The incidence rates of gastric retention and diarrhea were 96.24%(128/133) and 61.65%(82/133) for 133 patients undergoing sequential therapy of EVL in mature technology period, and 1.56%(2/128) and 3.91%(5/128) for 128 patients undergoing sequential therapy of EVL in technology innovation period, showing significant differences between them (χ2=233.876, 97.883, P<0.05). Conclusions It is safe and feasible of laparoscopic splenectomy combined with pericardial devascularization for patients with cirrhotic portal hypertension, and intraoperative vagus nerve-preserving can reduce volume of intraoperative blood loss and incidence of postoperative complications. Key words: Liver cirrhosis; Portal hypertension; Splenectomy; Pericardial devascularization; Vagus nerve; Laparoscopy