Redo hepatic resection for metastatic colorectal carcinoma

Redo hepatic resection for recurrent colorectal metastasis was performed in eight patients. There was no operative mortality; major morbidity occurred in 25% and minor morbidity in 13% of patients. Four patients are alive and disease-free at 9, 23, 39, and 49 months, respectively, after their repeat hepatic resection. Four patients have died of recurrent disease, with a median time to recurrence of 6 months and median survival of 15 months. Patterns of failure include hepatic failure alone in two patients and pulmonary and hepatic failure in two. Repeat liver resection can be performed safely and may be beneficial in some patients with recurrent metastases confined to the liver after previous hepatic metastasectomy.