A prospective study of different complications following laparoscopic cholecystectomy in a tertiary care hospital in Eastern India

Abstract

Background: Laparoscopic approach for cholecystectomy has already become the standard of care for the management of symptomatic and (in selected cases) asymptomatic cholelithiasis. Despite proven advantages laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is known to be associated with certain complications. Methods: This prospective study was undertaken to document the incidences of such complications and to compare them to those in already published data. A total of 750 cases of LC performed in the department of general surgery at IPGME and R and SSKM hospital, Kolkata were observed for a minimum period of 8 weeks following surgery. The complications were noted and their incidences calculated using simple statistical tools. These were then compared with those in already published data. Results: A total of 493 complications occurred in 483 patients (64.4%). The most common complication was port-site infection (PSI) occurring in 476 patients (63.5%). The other complications included bleeding (1.2%), bowel injury (0.7%) and bile duct injury (0.4%). Mortality occurred in 3 cases (0.4%). Conversions to open cholecystectomy (OC) due to inability to proceed in a timely manner because of difficult exposure or unclear anatomy were not considered as complications rather as an inevitable extension of the primary approach in some difficult scenarios. Conclusions: At the end of our study period we could conclude that the incidences of specific complications in our study are less than those reported from different centres across the globe except for PSI. The alarmingly high incidence of PSI noted is a matter for introspection. A detailed study needs to be undertaken so that appropriate measures may be taken to prevent this scourge.