Liver resection
The ward staff will show you round the ward and show you to your bed. Your nurse will check your blood pressure, pulse and breathing rate.
Your nurse will go through a series of questions on a checklist to make sure you are ready for surgery. They will also ask these questions in the anaesthetic room. They ask you to:
tell them your name and date of birth
tell them when you last had something to eat and drink
change into a hospital gown
put on a pair of surgical stockings
take off any jewellery (except for a wedding ring)
take off any make up, including nail varnish
remove contact lenses if you have them
put on 2 hospital identification bands, usually one on each wrist - if you have any allergies you will have an extra wristband so that your healthcare team are aware
If you have false teeth you can usually keep them in until you get to the anaesthetic room.
For some types of surgery, your nurse asks if they can remove the hair around the operation area. This is to help prevent an infection. They might remove the hair on the ward before you go for your operation. Or when you’re in the operating theatre.
Your nurse might give you a tablet or an injection to help you relax. This will be an hour or so before you go to the operating theatre. This makes your mouth feel dry. But you can rinse your mouth with water to keep it moist.
Your nurse and a porter take you to theatre on a trolley if you’ve had this medicine. You can walk down to the theatre if you haven't had any.
You have an anaesthetic so that you can’t feel anything during the operation. You have this in the anaesthetic room or the operating theatre.
All the doctors and nurses wear theatre gowns, hats and masks. This reduces your chance of getting an infection.
Before your operation your anaesthetist might put a small tube through the skin of your back. It goes into the fluid around your spinal cord. They can attach a pump to this tube to give you pain medicines during and after the operation.
The anaesthetist puts a small tube into a vein in your arm (cannula). You have any fluids and medicines you need through the cannula including the general anaesthetic. This sends you into a deep sleep. When you wake up, the operation will be over.
After the operation, you usually wake up in the high dependency unit (HDU) or intensive care unit (ICU). You usually move back to the ward within a few days.
Last reviewed: 18 Feb 2025
Next review due: 18 Feb 2028
A liver resection is surgery to remove part of your liver. It is sometimes called a hepatectomy or lobectomy.
Before surgery, you have tests to check your fitness and you meet members of your treatment team.
Your treatment for liver cancer depends on the stage of your cancer and how well your liver is working. The most common treatments are surgery, heat treatment, drug treatments and radiotherapy.
Surgery is one of the main treatments for early cancer that started in the liver (primary liver cancer).
Secondary liver cancer is when a cancer that started somewhere else in the body has spread to the liver. It is also called liver metastases.
Primary liver cancer is cancer that started in the liver. This section is mainly about the most common type of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
About Cancer generously supported by Dangoor Education since 2010. Learn more about Dangoor Education
Search our clinical trials database for all cancer trials and studies recruiting in the UK.
Connect with other people affected by cancer and share your experiences.
Questions about cancer? Call freephone 0808 800 40 40 from 9 to 5 - Monday to Friday. Alternatively, you can email us.
