Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in children with sickle cell disease.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to report the outcome of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in children with sickle cell disease and to compare the patients who had surgery as emergency with those who were operated as routine.


METHODS
A total of 72 patients (males 48, females 24) less than 14 years of age (ranging between 6 and 14 years) underwent cholecystectomy at the King Fahad Hospital, Hofuf, in the last 5 years. The records of these patients were reviewed retrospectively, comparing the outcome of surgery in emergency and routine cases.


RESULTS
The mean operating time and the mean hospital stay were longer in the emergency group (91.3 min, 8.5 days) compared to routine group (75.8 min, 4.5 days respectively), with high incidence of postoperative complication in the emergency group.


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed that elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy by an experienced surgeon and taking necessary precautions are the safety measures to be recommended at the time of diagnosis of cholelithiasis in sickle cell disease children.
Department of Surgery, King Fahad Hospital-Hofuf, Hofuf, Al-Hassa, Saudi Arabia. abdu3939@ yahoo.com
AbdulRahman S
AS
Al-Mulhim
Magdy M
MM
Abdulatif
Adel M
AM
Ali