Foreword.-Preface.-Minimally invasive surgery:an update -- Minimally invasive surgery of the liver:an update -- The learning curve:experimental surgery -- The learning curve:teaching in robotic surgery -- Technology in the operating room:the laparoscopic column -- Technology in the operating room:the robot -- Anesthesia -- Costs and benefits, a triad in comparison:open , laparoscopic, robotic surgery -- Transection devices -- The Louisville consensus conference -- Indications to surgery:laparoscopic or robotic approach -- Diagnostic laparoscopy and allied technologies -- Intraoperative ultrasound -- A new anatomical vision:the liver screen-surgery -- Encircling the pedicle for the Pringle manoeuvre -- Combined minimally invasive surgery:liver and colon-rectum -- Minimally invasive procedures for liver trauma -- Minimally invasive surgery in the cirrhotic patient -- Repeated mininvasive surgery.-Treatment of the resection surface.-Delivery of the specimen -- Short and long-term follow up.-Ligation of the portal branch.-Tumorectomy.-An introduction to Segmentectomy -- Segment I: robot -- Segment II: VL.-Segment III: VL -- Segment IV:VL -- Segment IVa: VL -- Segment V: VL -- Segment VI: VL -- Segment VII: robot -- Segment VIII: robot -- Left lobectomy : VL -- Left lobectomy for living donor:VL -- Right hepatectomy: VL -- Right hepatectomy: robot -- Left Hepatectomy: VL -- Left hepatectomy: robot -- Complications -- The Italian experience in minimally invasive surgery of the liver: an overview -- Perspectives: where shall we be 20 years from now? -- Analytical Index.

The treatment of liver diseases comprises a significant component of the practice of any general surgeon, whether working in an academic, a general, or a community hospital. With the rapid expansion in knowledge and technology, the liver has also been approached laparoscopically in specialized centers, with well-recognized advantages for patients. This book aims to communicate the large body of experience that has now been accumulated in minimally invasive liver surgery, with comprehensive and up-to-date information on the newest techniques. After a concise description of the main tools and technology necessary to carry out safe laparoscopic and/or robot-assisted liver surgery, individual operative techniques are explained and illustrated. Each chapter includes introductory information, a summary of indications and contraindications, and a detailed description of surgical procedure, including potential complications of both the surgery and the postoperative care. Special efforts have been taken to ensure that the illustrations are accurate and informative. The text is supplemented by a DVD of different procedures as performed by leading European liver surgeons.