Goal-directed fluid therapy on the postoperative complications of laparoscopic hepatobiliary or pancreatic surgery: An interventional comparative study

by Bon-Wook Koo, Ah-Young Oh, Hyo-Seok Na, Jiwon Han, Hyeong geun Kim

Intraoperative fluid balance significantly affects patients’ outcomes. Goal-directed fluid therapy (GDFT) has reduced the incidence of major postoperative complications by 20% for 30 days after open abdominal surgery. Little is known about GDFT during laparoscopic surgery.

We investigated whether GDFT affects the postoperative outcomes in laparoscopic hepatobiliary or pancreatic surgery compared with conventional fluid management.

This interventional comparative study with a historical control group was performed in the tertiary care center. Patients were allocated to one of two groups. The GDFT (n = 147) was recruited prospectively and the conventional group (n = 228) retrospectively. In the GDFT group, fluid management was guided by the stroke volume (SV) and cardiac index (CI), whereas it had been performed based on vital signs in the conventional group. Propensity score (PS) matching was performed to reduce selection bias (n = 147 in each group). Postoperative complications were evaluated as primary outcome measures.

The amount of crystalloid used during surgery was less in the GDFT group than in the conventional group (5.1 ± 1.1 vs 6.3 ± 1.8 ml/kg/h, respectively; P <0.001), whereas the amount of colloid was comparable between the two groups. The overall proportion of patients who experienced any adverse events was 57.8% in the GDFT group and 70.1% in the conventional group (P = 0.038), of which the occurrence of pleural effusion was significantly lower in the GDFT group than in the conventional group (9.5% vs. 19.7%; P = 0.024). During the postoperative period, the proportion of patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) was lower in the GDFT group than that in the conventional group after PS matching (4.1% vs 10.2%; P = 0.049).

GDFT based on SV and CI resulted in a lower net fluid balance than conventional fluid therapy. The overall complication rate in laparoscopic hepatobiliary or pancreatic surgery decreased after GDFT, and the frequency of pleural effusion was the most affected.