There have been several recent developments that have made operations safer and recovery faster for patients undergoing liver and bile duct surgery.
About 20% of surgeries are done laparoscopically. Similar to gallbladder surgery, laparoscopic surgery involves band-aid sized incisions. The usual hospital stay after laparoscopic liver surgery is 1-2 days and total recovery is often 2 weeks or less.
Open liver and bile duct surgery has become much safer for patients.
The incision for open liver surgery usually is about one inch below the right rib cage and extends to the end of the breast bone. The incision is all within the abdomen and does not involve the chest.