ABSTRACT
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the newest treatment modality to be introduced for the management of the gallstone disease and is gaining rapid acceptance elsewhere. Despite its rapid and widespread acceptance, early data suggest that some complications and limitations are common when compared to standard cholecystectomy. The aim of this study was to identify problems in laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the reasons for secondary or operative conversion. From August 1991 to December 1994, 195 consecutive patients were treated with laparoscopic cholecystectomy at the Department of General Surgery, Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University. The results were as follows; 1) The most prevalent age group was the 5th decade (24.6%) and the sex ratio (M : F) was 1 : 1.4. 2) The most common symptom was right upper quadrant pain (66.2%). 3) The majority (66.7%) of the admitted patient came to our hospital within 6 months of the onset of symptoms. 4) The number of patients with previous abdominal operations was 44 patients (22.6%), and the most common operation was an appendectomy (8.2%). 5) The patients with associated diseases were 124 patients (63.6%), gastritis being noted in 35 patients (17.9%). 6) The preoperative diagnostic rate was 96% by abdominal ultrasonography and 23.6% by ERCP 7) The average operative time was 103 minutes. 8) The most frequent operative finding was adhesion (72.3%). 9) The mean period of hospitalization after operation was 3.5 days. 10) The most dominant type in pathologic classification was chronic cholecystitis (86.7%). 11) The number of conversions to an open cholecystectomy was 14 (7.2%). 12) Among 195 patients, complications were noted in 10 patients (5.1%) : bile leakage from the bile duct or the liver bed(3 patients), bile duct injury (2 patients), subphrenic abscess (2 patients), atelectasis (1 patient), wound hematoma (1 patient), and drain site bleeding (1 patient).