Objective: To investigate the safety and effectiveness of using unidirectional barbed suture in laparoscopic hepatectomy with intraoperative bile duct exploration. Methods: The clinical data of 24 patients undergoing laparoscopic hepatectomy with synchronous bile duct exploration from December 2014 to August 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Of the patients, the bile duct closure in 10 cases was accomplished with traditional suture (traditional suture group), and in 14 cases with unidirectional barbed suture (barbed suture group). The main clinical variables between the two groups of patients were compared. Results: The operations in all patients were successfully completed. The preoperative general data, intraoperative blood loss, incidence of postoperative complications (pulmonary infection), and length of postoperative hospital stay had no statistical difference between the two groups (all P>0.05), but the overall operative time (230.50 min vs. 354.68 min), and time for common bile duct (5.33 min vs. 33.82 min) and hepatic duct (9.04 min vs. 25.14 min) suturing were significantly reduced in barbed suture group compared with traditional suture group (all P<0.05). One month after discharge, all patient returned for T-tube cholangiography and T-tube removal, and no retained stones, bile leakage or biliary stricture was observed. Conclusion: Using unidirectional barbed suture in laparoscopic hepatectomy with bile duct exploration is safe and feasible, and the employment of the absorbable barbed suture can reduce the difficulty of laparoscopic suturing, and shorten the operative time and the technical learning curve, without increasing the risk of postoperative bile leakage.