title: Single-port versus multiport laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a prospective randomized clinical trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We report the outcomes of a randomized clinical trial of single-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SPLC) and multiport laparoscopic cholecystectomy (MPLC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-four patients (27 in each group) were randomized. A visual analog scale was used with a 10-point scale for an objective assessment of incisional pain and incisional cosmesis on postoperative days 1, 3, and 14.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean operating time was significantly longer in the SPLC. The mean cosmesis scores on postoperative days 3 (9.7 vs. 8.9, P = 0.01) and 14 (9.9 vs. 9.2, P<0.01) were significantly greater in the SPLC group than in the MPLC group. The group's mean visual analog scale scores for incisional pain, and their requirements for analgesics, did not differ significantly.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although SPLC takes longer than MPLC, experienced laparoscopic surgeons can perform SPLC safely with results comparable with those for MPLC. SPLC is superior to MPLC in terms of short-term cosmetic outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Iwate Medical University School of Medicine, Morioka, Japan. sakira@iwate-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Chihiro
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tono
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Obara
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hosoi
authors.forename: Go
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wakabayashi
mesh_terms: D017081:Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005260:Female; D005705:Gallbladder Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D020706:Laparoscopes; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome