Surgical team of the Military Medical Academy, headed by Head of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Department, Prof. Dr Darko Mirkovic, performed the first minimal-invasive laparoscopic liver resection in a patient M.D. (1975), who was successfully recovering. This type of surgery was first carried out in the MMA, and among the first surgeries of this type in the country and the region.

Surgeons involved in the surgery were Assist. Dr. Mihailo Bezmarevic PhD, Lt Col Doc. Dr. Milan Jovanovic and Lt Col Dr. Miroslav Mitrovic, anesthesiologist Dr. Aleksandar Ristanovic, OR nurses Marijana Bugarcic and Jasmina Mitrovic and a paramedic Dragan Markovic.

The patient had a liver hemangioma of about 10 cm in diameter in the second and third liver segment, having increased significantly in recent months with progressive pain and abdominal uneasiness. The surgery involved the removal of the second and third liver segments along with hemangioma, resulting in a minimal intraoperative blood loss and without complications.

Unlike traditional (open) liver surgeries (larger cuts, slower recovery after surgery and longer postoperative course), laparoscopic approach, although technically more demanding, allows minimal blood loss during surgery, significantly faster recovery of a patient, as well as less overall treatment costs.