Objective To investigate the application value of three‑dimensional (3D) printing technology assisted laparoscopic anatomic liver resection of segment 8 (Lap‑S8).

Methods The retrospective and descriptive study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 8 liver cancer patients including 7 cases with hepatocellular carcinoma and 1 case with intrahepatic cholangio-carcinoma who underwent 3D printing technology assisted Lap‑S8 in the Hunan Provincial People′s Hospital from January 2019 to December 2020 were collected. There were 7 males and 1 female, aged from 49.0 to 80.0 years, with a median age of 56.5 years. Of the 8 patients, 6 cases underwent laparoscopic anatomic liver resection of the entire segment 8, 1 case underwent laparoscopic anatomic liver resection of ventral subsegmental of the segment 8 and 1 case underwent laparoscopic anatomic liver resection of dorsal subsegmental of the segment 8. 3D printing technology was used to assist preoperative evaluation and intraoperative navigation for all 8 patients. Observation indicators: (1) surgical situations; (2) postoperative situations; (3) follow‑up. Follow‑up was conducted using outpatient examination, internet or telephone interview to detect survival and tumor recurrence of patients after operation up to March 2021. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean±SD, and measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range). Count data were described as absolute numbers.

Results (1) Surgical situations: all the 8 patients underwent 3D printing technology assisted Lap‑S8 successfully, without conversion to open surgery. The operation time, hepatic portal occlusion time and volume of intraoperative blood loss of the 8 patients were (216±41)minutes, (56±11)minutes and 75 mL(range, 50 to 300 mL), respectively. There was no intraoperative blood transfusion in 8 patients, and the surgical margin of the 8 patients was negative. (2) Postoperative situations: the duration of postoperative hospital stay of the 8 patients were (9±3)days. There was no complication such as postoperative hemorrhage, biliary fistula, liver abscess or abdominal infection occurred. (3) Follow‑up: all the 8 patients were followed up for 3.0‒24.0 months, with a median follow‑up time of 12.5 months. During the follow‑up, 1 of 8 patients with preoperative diagnosis of recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma developed tumor recurrence at 5 months after operation. The patient underwent laparoscopic surgery followed with the transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and target therapy, and survived with tumor. There was no tumor recurrence in the other 7 patients.

Conclusion 3D printing technology assisted Lap‑S8 is safe and feasible.