title: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Experience with 375 consecutive patients.
abstract: Three hundred seventy-five consecutive patients underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy from September 1989 to January 1991. Three hundred forty-one (91%) presented on an elective basis, and the remaining 34 patients (9%) were admitted for acute cholecystitis (24), gallstone pancreatitis (9), and cholangitis (1). Of the 375 patients, 20 were converted to laparotomy and cholecystectomy, for an overall success rate of 95% for patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Three hundred nineteen patients (90%) were discharged within 24 hours of surgery. Operative cholangiography was completed in 141 patients, showing choledocholithiasis in five (managed by postoperative endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography [ERCP] in 4, common bile duct exploration [CBDE] in 1). Two retained stones (0.9%) were detected in 214 patients not undergoing cholangiography. Three patients (0.8%) were reoperated on because of perioperative complications. Overall morbidity for patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy was 3.5%. Major complications (0.6%) included a single common hepatic duct injury and a delayed cystic duct leak at 10 days. Minor complications occurred in 11 patients (2.9%). The single perioperative death (0.3%) was due to a myocardial infarction on postoperative day 3, after an otherwise uncomplicated laparoscopic procedure. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy appears to offer significant advantages to patient recovery, and these data suggest that it can be performed with an efficacy, morbidity rate, and mortality rate similar to those of open cholecystectomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Zucker
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Flowers
authors.forename: W A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Scovill
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Imbembo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002758:Cholangiography; D002763:Cholecystectomy / Q000379:methods* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies