Over the last decade, laparoscopic hepatic surgery (LHS) has been increasingly performed throughout the world. Meanwhile, ambulatory surgery has been developed and implemented with the aims of improving patient satisfaction and reducing health care costs. The objective of this study was to report our preliminary experience with ambulatory minimally invasive LHS.

Between 1999 and 2014, 172 patients underwent LHS at our institution, including 151 liver resections and 21 fenestrations of hepatic cysts. The consecutive series of highly selected patients who underwent ambulatory LHS were included in this study.

Twenty patients underwent ambulatory LHS. Indications were liver cysts in 10 cases, liver angioma in 3 cases, focal nodular hyperplasia in 3 cases, and colorectal hepatic metastasis in 4 cases. The median operative time was 92minutes (range: 50–240minutes). The median blood loss was 35mL (range: 20–150mL). There were no postoperative complications or re-hospitalizations. All patients were hospitalized after surgery in our ambulatory surgery unit, and were discharged 5–7hours after surgery. The median postoperative pain score at the time of discharge was 3 (visual analogue scale: 0–10; range: 0–4). The median quality-of-life score at the first postoperative visit was 8 (range: 6–10) and the median cosmetic satisfaction score was 8 (range: 7–10).

This series shows that, in selected patients, ambulatory LHS is feasible and safe for minor hepatic procedures.