Retrograde caudate lobectomy combined with right hemihepatectomy

Retrograde caudate lobectomy is a proper technique to resect the tumor in caudate lobe when the tumor is  too big or closely adherent to the inferior vena cava. A male patient aged 44 years was admitted to the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital in November 2007. The ligaments around the liver were firstly dissected to mobilize the whole liver, and the right hepatic pedicle was dissected and ligated, then the liver was splited  anteriorly  along the Cantlie′s line. The tumor was opposed in the sight and then it was dissected from the liver parenchyma. The short hepatic veins were ligated and the tumor was detached from the inferior vena cava. The inflow blood was occluded for 19  minutes, and the total blood loss was 4500 ml. The technique of retrograde caudate lobectomy can improve the success rate and safety of caudate lobectomy when the tumor in the  caudate lobe is too large or adherent to the inferior vena cava.