Hepatic hydatid cysts

Hepatic hydatid cystic disease continues to be a serious health problem and is endemic in Iraq. There are of two types of cysts: noncomplicated and complicated cysts. Open surgery is widely practiced for both types. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical features, management, and outcome of surgical treatment in both types of cyst.

The study included 150 patients operated on between 1996 and 2014. The patients’ demographic data, location, number, size, type of cysts, surgical procedure performed, morbidity, recurrences, and duration of hospital stay were recorded.

There were 102 female and 48 male patients with an age range of 4–70 years. There were more patients with noncomplicated cysts than complicated cysts – 94 and 56 patients, respectively. The complicated disease group had significantly more pronounced clinical presentations (p < 0.001) and higher postoperative morbidity (p < 0.001), and without significant change in recurrence rate (p = 0.059). Mean postoperative hospitalization time for noncomplicated cysts was 3.2 days, and for complicated cysts 5.6 days (p < 0.001).

The most common type of hydatid cyst is the noncomplicated type, which has lower complication rates and shorter hospital stay regardless of the management technique of the cyst cavity. Therefore, complicated and noncomplicated cysts should be considered as different forms of the disease entity with different outcomes.