Background The Pringle maneuver, which has been the standard for hepatic resection surgery for a long time, has the major flaw of ischemic damage in the liver. The aim of this research was to evaluate hepatic blood inflow occlusion with/without hemihepatic artery control vs. the Pringle maneuver in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) resection.Methods Two hundred and eighty-one cases of resection of HCC with hepatic blood inflow occlusion (with/without hemihepatic artery control) and the Pringle maneuver from January 2006 to December 2008 in our hospital were analyzed and compared retrospectively; among them 107 were in group I (Pringle maneuver), 98 in group II (hepatic blood inflow occlusion), and 76 in group III (hepatic blood inflow occlusion without hemihepatic artery control). The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative liver function and complications were used as the endpoints for evaluation.Results The operative duration and intraoperative blood loss of three groups showed no significant difference; alanine aminotransferase, total bilirubin and incidence of postoperative complications were significantly lower in groups II and III postoperation than those in group I.Conclusion Hepatic blood inflow occlusion without hemihepatic artery control is safe, convenient and feasible for resection of HCC, especially for cases involving underlying diseases such as cirrhosis.