Laparoscopic procedure versus conventional cystectomy for pediatric hepatic cystic echinococcosis:a controlled clinical study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy and safety of laparoscopic surgery in treatment of pediatric hepatic cystic echinococcosis(HCE). METHODS: The clinical data of 78 children with HCE infection who were treated at the Department of Pediatric Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University between April 2016 and September 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. The cohort comprised 52 males and 26 females. The age range of the subjects is from 2 to 15 years old. The children were divided into 2 groups according to the surgical methods employed: the laparoscopic group comprised 38 children who had undergone laparoscopic surgery, while the conventional group consisted of 40 children who had been treated with conventional surgery. A comparative analysis of the clinical data was conducted between those groups, encompassing baseline data, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, Postoperative I-feed score, facial visual analogue scale (f-VAS) 8 h after surgery, postoperative hospital stay, residual cavity infection rate, incidence of biliary leakage, incidence of postoperative hypernatremia, incidence of residual fluid, incidence of residual cavity infections and recurrence rate. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed in the baseline data, operation time, residual effusion rate, residual infection rate, postoperative hypernatremia rate, biliary leakage rate and recurrence rate between the two groups (P > 0.05). However, statistically significant differences were noted in intraoperative bleeding, Postoperative I-feed score, 8-h postoperative f-VAS score and postoperative length of hospital stay (P < 0.05).