China's Top Departments: Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic & Splenic Surgery at Xijing Hospital

If you or a loved one is facing a complex hepatobiliary or pancreatic condition — liver cancer, pancreatic cancer, hilar cholangiocarcinoma, bile duct injury, or a condition requiring liver transplantation — the Department of Hepatobiliary, Pancreatic and Splenic Surgery at Xijing Hospital is among China's most accomplished centers.

The department is a National Key Discipline, National Clinical Key Specialty, and National "Double First-Class" Construction Discipline. It hosts the Organ Transplant Institute of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and is an Asia-Pacific Liver Surgery Training Center. Originating from the hospital's General Surgery Department founded in 1954, it became a fully independent specialty in 1992.

In the Fudan University hospital ranking, the department is listed 10th nationally in hepatobiliary-pancreatic-splenic surgery and No. 1 in reputation in general surgery in Northwest China.

The department has 4 wards with 118 beds, admits nearly 4,000 patients per year, and performs over 300 surgeries per month, of which major and medium-complexity procedures account for more than 90%.

At Medora, we help international patients navigate Xijing's hepatobiliary team. Here's what you need to know.

Qualifications & Honors

• Doctoral degree-granting discipline; National Key Discipline of Surgery (General Surgery); National Clinical Key Specialty
• National "Double First-Class" construction discipline; Asia-Pacific Liver Surgery Training Center
• Organ Transplant Institute of the Chinese People's Liberation Army
• National Health Commission demonstration base for primary liver cancer diagnosis and treatment (first batch)
• National laparoscopic surgeon training base; NHC residency training base for general surgery
• Shaanxi Provincial Key Discipline; Shaanxi Provincial Advantageous Medical Specialty; Shaanxi Academician Workstation
• Hosts the Xijing Minimally Invasive Therapy Center, Liver Cancer Multidisciplinary Treatment Center, Pancreatic Disease MDT Center, Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) Center, and China Bariatric & Metabolic Surgery Training Center

Core Strengths & Techniques

Liver Surgery

• Surgical treatment of liver malignancies, complex giant hepatic hemangiomas, and intrahepatic/extrahepatic bile duct stones
• Multidisciplinary comprehensive treatment of primary liver cancer

Pancreatic Surgery

• Radical and comprehensive treatment of pancreatic cancer, severe pancreatitis, pancreatic duct stones

Biliary Surgery

• Hilar cholangiocarcinoma
• Repair of complex bile duct injuries — nearly 1,000 referred patients with iatrogenic bile duct injury treated successfully, 98% cured
• Repeat biliary surgery, choledochal cyst

Minimally Invasive Techniques

• Total laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy
• Laparoscopic right hemihepatectomy
• Laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy
• Laparoscopic partial splenectomy
• Laparoscopic caudate lobectomy

Organ Transplantation

• Liver transplantation and multi-organ combined transplantation

Special Technologies

• Nano-knife (irreversible electroporation) for advanced liver/pancreatic cancer
• Bariatric & metabolic surgery (minimally invasive treatment of obesity and diabetes)
• ERAS protocols

Transplant Milestones

The department has achieved multiple national and world firsts:

• China's first successful living-donor partial liver transplantation
• China's first auxiliary living-donor liver transplantation with ABO-incompatible graft
• World's first auxiliary living-donor partial liver transplantation in the splenic fossa (heterotopic)
• World's first split-liver transplantation between two recipients (heterotopic)
• Asia's first simultaneous liver-pancreas-kidney transplantation
• Asia's first simultaneous heart-liver-kidney transplantation

Recipient survival is among the best in China and reaches advanced international levels.

Expert Team

Research Strength

• 2,000 m² laboratory
• Undertakes national "973" and "863" programs, the National Key R&D Program, key NSFC projects, the NSFC Excellent Young Scholars Fund, and major military research projects — research funding of nearly RMB 70 million
• 2 National Science and Technology Progress Second Prizes, 1 First Prize of the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award, 2 Shaanxi Provincial Science and Technology Progress First Prizes
• Over 1,000 academic papers including more than 500 SCI papers
• Over 10 monographs; 12 national invention/utility model patents

Contact Information

Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University No. 127 Changle West Road, Xincheng District, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

• Phone: +86-29-84775507 (department) / +86-29-88886666 (switchboard)
• Outpatient hours: Mon–Sun 8:00–12:00 AM, 1:30–5:00 PM

Xi'an is a major city in northwest China with international airport connections. Most international patients fly into Xi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY).

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This guide is prepared for Central Asian and international patients. If you need assistance with medical consultation, appointment booking, or travel arrangements to Xijing Hospital's Hepatobiliary Surgery Department, contact Medora for personalized support.