Port-sites excision for gallbladder cancer incidentally found after laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Port-site recurrence represents a severe complication in the case of incidental gallbladder cancer (ICG) discovered after laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and is reported to occur in 17% of cases. For this reason port-sites excision is an essential surgical step during the second operation, which includes liver resection (segments 4b and 5) and lymph node dissection (hepatic pedicle and retroduodeno-pancreatic region). In this article we describe a simple technique to obtain a radical port-site excision with the aim to standardize this surgical step and to perform it in a radical way. Port-sites excision is the accurate and complete excision of the parietal channel created by the trocar during the previous cholecystectomy. This channel is often Z-shaped. In the second operation, the presence of peritoneal adhesions helps to identify exactly the previous site of entry of the trocar in the peritoneal cavity. Trocar reinsertion through the abdominal wall along the correctly identified original path allows the excision of a perfect cylinder of abdominal wall including all of the layers from the skin to the peritoneum. (c) 2006 Excerpta Medica Inc. All rights reserved.