title: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy: The first year experience.
abstract: A total of 307 consecutive patients with symptomatic gallstones were admitted for cholecystectomy. Two hundred seventy patients (88%) were considered suitable for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Forty-two of these (17%) were admitted on an emergency basis. The procedure was accomplished successfully in 246 patients (91%), while in the remaining 24 patients (9%), the attempt had to be abandoned and converted to open cholecystectomy. Postoperative complications, mostly minor, occurred in 22 patients (9%). Suspected common bile duct stones were treated with endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) prior to surgery. The mean operative time was 82 minutes and 70% of the patients were discharged home within 489 hours after surgery and more than 90% were sent home by the third postoperative day. The results suggest that laparoscopic cholecystectomy is feasible for the majority of patients with symptomatic gallstones.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Mofti
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Hussein
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Suleiman
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ismail
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Jain
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Al-Momen