No evidence to support or refute elective surgery for benign liver tumours

The most common benign liver tumours include cavernous haemangioma, focal nodular hyperplasia, and hepatic adenoma. The majority of patients are asymptomatic, and no treatment is indicated. The natural history of haemangioma and focal nodular hyperplasia is typically uneventful whereas that of hepatic adenoma can be complicated by life-threatening conditions, such as rupture and haemorrhage. For these complications or when a definite histologic diagnosis is needed, surgery is advisable. However, in clinical practice there is a wide variation concerning the use of elective surgery (ie, surgery performed before complications have developed). No randomised clinical trials were identified for this systematic review, but 31 case series without a proper control group were retrieved. Accordingly, there is no evidence to support or refute elective surgery for benign liver tumours.