The objective of this study was to evaluate the rationale of a policy of one-stage liver resection for selective cases of spontaneous rupture of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Altogether, 36 patients with spontaneous rupture of an HCC admitted between November 1994 and September 2003 underwent a one-stage laparotomy with a view to curative liver resection; 33 cases underwent liver resection successfully, and 3 cases were found to have lesions unresectable at laparotomy and were treated with other hemostatic procedures. The prognostic value was calculated by Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis. Effective surgical hemostasis was achieved in all patients, with a postoperative mortality rate of 5.8% (2/36). The estimated survivals at 1, 3, and 5 years for patients who underwent liver resection were 88%, 54%, and 51%, respectively. These results suggest that a one-stage surgical operation offers a feasible, effective treatment for patients with ruptured HCC in whom the tumor is judged likely to be resectable on the computed tomography scan and who have a liver function grade of A or B according to Child-Pugh criteria.