Topical haemostatic agents in liver surgery: do we need them?

BACKGROUND Worldwide, partial liver resections are increasingly being performed for primary or secondary hepatic malignancies. There are various techniques to reduce blood loss during liver surgery. Several topical haemostatic agents have been developed to improve haemostasis of the resection surface and these agents are used more and more, even although the true effects remain unclear. METHODS The present literature about the use of topical haemostatic agents in liver surgery was reviewed. Furthermore we conducted a Dutch national survey to explore the use of and belief in these agents in liver surgery. RESULTS The Dutch national survey among surgeons showed that topical haemostatic agents are frequently used not only to lower intra-operative blood loss or shorten time to haemostasis, but even more importantly, to reduce resection surface related complications such as bile leakage, postoperative haemorrhage and abscess formation. Although various topical haemostatic agents have been shown to reduce intra-operative time to haemostasis at the resection surface after liver resections, there is no scientific proof that these topical haemostatic agents really reduce resection surface related complications. CONCLUSION This review highlights the need for more randomized clinical trials to investigate the efficacy of topical haemostatic agents in reducing resection surface related complications.