The learning curve with single-port cholecystectomy.
OBJECTIVE
Single-port surgery is a rapidly advancing technique in laparoscopic surgery. Currently, there is limited evidence on the learning curve and practicality of performing single-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy.


METHODS
Single-port cholecystectomy was performed on 20 consecutive patients for biliary dyskinesia, symptomatic cholelithiasis, or acute cholecystitis. The Tri-Port was placed in the umbilicus, and a combination of straight and articulating instruments were utilized. Patient characteristics and outcomes were reviewed, and a comparison was made with the prior 20 consecutive laparoscopic cholecystectomies performed using the 3-port technique.


RESULTS
Characteristics were similar in both groups. The 3-port cholecystectomy had a mean time of 65.7 minutes, and patients had an average body mass index of 28.16. The first single-port cholecystectomy took 160 minutes with sequential improvement to the sixth case of 66 minutes with a mean of 68.2 minutes for the last 15 single-port cases. The average patient body mass index was 30.24. No major complications occurred.


CONCLUSIONS
The largest series to date of single-port cholecystectomy for multiple degrees of biliary disease is presented. This study validates that this technique can be applied effectively and performed in comparable operative times to traditional 3-port cholecystectomy with a learning curve of approximately 5 cases.
Department of Surgery, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Lansing, USA.
Amanda J
AJ
Kravetz
Douglas
D
Iddings
Marc D
MD
Basson
Michael A
MA
Kia
D000328:Adult; D001657:Biliary Dyskinesia / Q000601:surgery; D017081:Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic / Q000193:education* / Q000379:methods*; D002764:Cholecystitis / Q000601:surgery; D002769:Cholelithiasis / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome