Background: Liver surgery is a major abdominal operation associated with a dramatic change in intraoperative hemodynamics; thus, the infusion strategy is challenging for anesthesiologists. Studies have demonstrated that stroke volume variation (SVV) can be used to predict fluid responsiveness during major abdominal surgery. SVV can be used as a guide for the administration of intraoperative fluids to improve postoperative prognosis. In the present study, we planned to investigate whether high- or low-SVV in liver surgery is associated with fewer postoperative complications.
Methods: This study was a prospective randomized trial of 74 patients who underwent hepatectomy. The patients were divided into two groups for SVV-guided infusion during tumor resection surgery using a low-SVV (≤ 10%, n = 37) or high-SVV (> 10%, n = 37) strategy. The primary outcome was postoperative complications, namely infection, pleural effusion, and atelectasis. The secondary outcomes were differences in perioperative physiological variables and postoperative pain.
Results: No differences in postoperative complications within 30 days of surgery were observed between the low-SVV and high-SVV groups. However, we observed lower estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) and higher alanine transaminase (ALT) levels in the high-SVV group after surgery.
Conclusion: Patients who underwent major liver tumor resection with the low-SVV or high-SVV strategy exhibited no differences in postoperative complications (48.6% vs. 45.9%; P > 0.999). However, in the high-SVV group, postoperative eGFRs were lower and ALT levels were higher.