Objective To study the clinical anatomical basis of the liver hanging maneuver through research of applied anatomy. Methods Retrohepatic portions of the inferior vena cava of 21 cadaver were observed intracavitarily, and the numbers of short hepatic vein (SHV) opening were counted based on different possible pathway of the liver hanging maneuver and different width of retrohepatic tunnel (10 mm, 6 mm). Results The number of SHV was 0 to 3 (median=1) using standard pathway of the liver hanging maneuver in 6 mm retrohepatic tunnel, and the number of SHV was 0 to 2 (median=0) using EM pathway that was on the right border of retrohepatic portion of the inferior vena cava and 1 cm away from the inferior border of liver. There was a significant difference between the EM pathway and standard pathway, P=0.003.Conclusion The results show that setting up a retrohepatic tunnel through the liver hanging maneuver is feasible and safe.