MONDAY, Nov. 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with colorectal liver metastases (CRLM), laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) is associated with lower postoperative morbidity than open liver resection (OLR), with similar long-term oncologic outcomes, according to a study published online Oct. 27 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Bram Olij, M.D., from Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and colleagues compared postoperative and long-term oncologic outcomes after LLR versus OLR for CRLM in a meta-analysis using individual participant data from eligible randomized clinical trials. A total of 761 patients were included (384 laparoscopic and 377 open).
The researchers found that compared with open surgery, postoperative morbidity was lower in patients assigned to laparoscopic surgery (19 versus 27 percent). Morbidity did not differ between the groups among patients who received preoperative systemic therapy (25 versus 24 percent). Ninety-day mortality was 1.8 and 0.8 percent after LLR and OLR, respectively. Overall survival and disease-free survival did not differ between the groups after a median follow-up of 93 months.
"The findings are consistent with the published trial-level reports from the included randomized studies and indicate that assignment to the laparoscopic approach is associated with lower postoperative morbidity and shorter hospital stays, whereas long-term oncologic outcomes were similar between groups," the authors write.
Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.
