Objective  To examine quality of life (QoL) in the patients after extended hepatectomy and to provide references for developing nursing strategies for the patients.

  Methods  We conducted telephone follow-up surveys among 50 patients after extended hepatectomy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical College between March 2015 and January 2016. We collected information on mental condition, appetite, sleep, pain, fatigue, self-awareness of disease, and survival of the patients and evaluated and compared their QoL before and after the operation using the Health Survey Short Form-36 (SF-36).

  Results  For all the patients the preoperative mean overall SF-36 score was 72.43 ± 12.17; while the score was 75.68 ± 8.44 at the day of discharge and 76.56 ± 7.12, 78.75 ± 7.88, 80.81 ± 9.67, 82.81 ± 5.46, 82.00 ± 11.58, and 77.62 ± 9.68 at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th month after the operation, all of which were significantly different form that before the operation (P < 0.05 for all). The result of independent-samples T test indicated significant difference in mean overall SF-36 score between the patients without the self-awareness of disease statuste (n = 15) and with the self-awareness (n = 35) (P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  Extended hepatectomy plays good roles in promoting the quality of life, and so as the psychological support, in liver cancer patients.