Objective：To investigate the clinical value of laparoscopic hepatectomy (LH) and the effect on immunological system.
Methods：Forty-five patients who met the inclusion criteria to undego hepatectomy were randomly divided into LH group and open hepatectomy (OH) group. The parameters including length of incision,  duration of operation, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative time to oral intake, dosages of analgesics, postoperative hospital stay, complication rate, perioperative body temperature and hemogram between the two groups were compared.
Results：The parameters of length of incision, blood loss, dosages of analgesics, time to food intake, postoperative hospital stay and body temperature of LH group were all significantly less than those of OH group (all P＜0.05). No difference was noted in duration of operation between the two groups (P＜0.05).
Conclusions：LH is a safe, feasible and effective procedure for liver resection as long as the patient is properly selected, and it has little effect on the immunological system and better short-term outcome than open surgery.