Objective To explore the effect of “in situ first” ex vivo liver resection and autologous liver transplantation (ELRA) for end stage hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (HAE). Methods The clinicopathologic data of 85 end stage HAE cases were initially scheduled underwent ELRA from June 2019 to May 2022 in the Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital were collected retrospectively. The included cases were operated under “in situ first” ERLA principle. The analyzed data included the final surgical style, operative time, time of anhepatic phase and intraoperative blood transfusion volume for ELRA cases. Results All the included 85 cases underwent radical HAE lesions resection and without perioperative death occurred. According to the principle of “in situ first”, 57 cases underwent HAE lesions resection combined vascular reconstruction without ex vivo liver resection (in situ resection group); 1 case underwent auxiliary partial autologous liver transplantation, and 27 cases underwent ERLA procedures (ELRA group). In the in situ resection group, the operative time was 210–750 min, （380±134）min, and the intraoperative blood transfusion was 0–3 250 mL with a median of 0 mL. In the ELRA group, the operative time was 450–1 445 min, (852±203) min, and the intraoperative blood transfusion was 0–6 800 mL with a median of 1 960 mL. The operative time and the amount of blood transfusion in the ELRA group were longer or more than those in the in situ resection group. The time of anhepatic phase for the ELRA group was 60–480 min, (231±83) min. On the 5th day after operation, except that the total bilirubin and direct bilirubin in the ELRA group were higher than those in the in situ resection group, the other indexes of liver function were similar between the two groups. The postoperative stay in ICU and the total postoperative hospital stay in the ELRA group were longer than those in the in situ resection group. Conclusions The advantage of “in situ first” ERLA principle for end stage HAE patients include resecting the HAE lesions radically without ex vivo liver resection and alleviating the hepatic ischemia and reperfusion injury. For the inevasible ELRA cases, “in situ first” principle could shorten the anhepatic phase and reduce intraoperative blood loss, and turn some cases to auxiliary partial autologous liver transplantation, which will reduce the risk of postoperative hepatic failure.