Hepatic surgery and hepatic surgical anatomy: historical partners in progress

Abstract

Whether for hepatic trauma or transplantation, a surgeon's knowledge of hepatic anatomy commonly determines a patient's outcome. The first medically relevant anatomic studies of the liver emerged with the endeavors of Herophilus and Erasistratus between 310 and 280 bc. Yet it was not until after the development of anesthesia and antisepsis that the first formal resections were performed during the late 1800s. After vascular occlusion principles had been developed as a means of successful hemorrhage control, several deliberate attempts were made to repair the liver surgically. Such efforts culminated in the work of Wendel in 1910 when he followed avascular planes during hepatectomy. The functional anatomy of surgery and surgical technique had suddenly joined in an effort to advance the practice, and eventually the efficacy of hepatic surgeons in facilitating the modern era of segmental anatomy extended hepatectomies and transplantation surgery.