What has changed after the Morioka consensus conference 2014 on laparoscopic liver resection?

The 2(nd) International Consensus Conference on Laparoscopic Liver Resection (ICCLLR) was held 4(th)-6(th) October, 2014, in Morioka, Japan. The level of evidence appears to be low in the field of laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) to create strong recommendations. Therefore, an independent jury-based consensus model was applied to better define the current role of LLR and to develop internationally accepted recommendations. The three-day conference was very intense with full of insightful discussions on assessment of LLR and its future directions. The jury drew the statements based on the presentations and documents prepared by the expert. LLR is theoretically superior to open liver resection (OLR) because the laparoscope allows better exposure with a magnified view, and the pneumoperitoneum pressure reduces hepatic vein bleeding from the cut surface. During the ICCLLR, we shared these theoretical advantages in LLR and the conceptual change of liver resection. After the ICCLLR, a couple of important studies have been published to prove this theoretical superiority of LLR over OLR in short-term outcomes without deteriorating long-term outcomes. Another new concept was proposed at the ICCLLR: parenchyma sparing (limited) anatomical resection. Review of the literature supports anatomical resection with parenchyma sparing strategy for LLR irrespective of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM). Just after the ICCLLR, sensational news of clustered mortality after LLR was reported in the Japanese media and they impacted on daily practice of LLR in Japan. The most important message from the ICCLLR is to protect patients from this new surgical procedure. The ICCLLR recommended three actions for the protection of patients: (I) prospective reporting registry for transparency; (II) a difficulty scoring system to select patients; (III) creation of a formal structure of education. The online prospective registry system including items to calculate the difficulty score has been created in Japan after the ICCLLR for the safe development of LLR.