There
was a significant correlation between postoperative
bile leakage and SSI after hepatic resection.
It is possible that localised peritonitis induced by
bile leakage from the liver stump spreads to
deep and superficial surgical sites. Abdominal
drainage has been a routine practice for many
years, and the drain is usually inserted into the
subphrenic or subphrenic space close to resection
surface after liver surgery. Closed drains through
a separate incision distant from the operative
incision were used in all cases of hepatic resection
in our department. The recent development of
surgical technique in liver resection has considerably
reduced the occurrence of postoperative complications,
including postoperative intra-abdominal
bleeding, bile leakage, and abdominal distension
due to peritoneal fluid accumulation. It was
reported that routine abdominal drainage is complicated
in patients with underlying chronic liver
diseases after liver surgery because of
a significantly higher incidence of postoperative
morbidities such as SSI and septic shock.30 Our
results also suggest that postoperative drainage
is not effective in preventing postoperative bile
leakage and SSI after liver resection.