Liver Resection: What to Expect

Liver resection is an operation that removes a tumour and a margin of nearby liver tissue while preserving enough healthy liver to work normally.

Also called hepatectomy, it may remove a wedge, segment, or lobe. The amount that can be safely removed depends on liver health, tumour position, and how much liver remains.

Before surgery, imaging helps map the tumour, blood tests assess liver function, and the team reviews medicines and general fitness. Under anaesthesia, the surgeon reaches the liver through an abdominal incision or, in selected cases, keyhole instruments. The affected segment or lobe is removed, and the specimen is examined to assess the tumour and surgical margin. Some people need treatment before or after surgery as part of a wider cancer plan.

Expected effects can include pain around the incision, tiredness, nausea, reduced appetite, and temporary changes in liver blood tests. Serious problems can include bleeding, infection, a bile leak, blood clots, or liver function that worsens rather than improves. Fever, increasing abdominal pain, yellowing of the skin, confusion, breathing difficulty, or heavy wound bleeding after discharge needs urgent medical advice.

Outcomes depend on the tumour type, its location and spread, the condition of the remaining liver, and whether other treatments are needed. The operation can provide local control when the disease can be removed safely, but follow-up is needed because cancer can return or appear elsewhere. Your team uses scans, examination, and blood tests to plan surveillance and decide whether further treatment is appropriate.

A liver resection may remove a wedge, a segment, or a larger section of liver. The surgical plan is individualised rather than based on tumour size alone.

It may be considered for selected people with primary liver cancer, liver metastases, or cancer that has spread to the liver from the bowel. A specialist team weighs whether all visible disease can be removed while leaving a functioning liver. A diagnosis of [Liver Cancer](/conditions/liver-cancer/) or [Liver Metastases](/conditions/liver-metastases/) does not by itself decide whether surgery is suitable.

The pathway usually includes a surgical assessment, anaesthetic review, pre-operative scans and blood tests, the operation itself, monitoring in hospital, and discharge planning. You may receive exercises for breathing and movement, pain relief, and guidance on eating and wound care. The pathology result helps the team discuss the next stage of care.

Hospital recovery varies with the extent of surgery and your health. Early goals include sitting out of bed, walking safely, breathing exercises, and gradually returning to food. At home, tiredness may last for weeks; avoid lifting and strenuous activity until the surgical team clears it. Keep follow-up appointments even if the wound looks healed.

Ask how the planned resection affects bile ducts, blood vessels, and the remaining liver. Your team can explain the signs of a bile leak, infection, bleeding, or clot and give a personal plan for contacting the hospital. Risks also depend on previous operations, medicines, nutrition, and other medical conditions.

When surgery is not suitable or would remove too much liver, options may include systemic cancer treatment, radiotherapy, or a local procedure such as [Tumour Ablation](/treatments/surgical-oncology/tumour-ablation/). For some people with [Bowel Cancer](/conditions/colorectal-cancer/), treatment is combined in a planned sequence.

Look for a multidisciplinary team with expertise in liver and cancer surgery. Take your scan reports, medication list, and previous treatment details to the consultation. Ask who will coordinate pathology, oncology, nutrition, and follow-up after discharge.