ABSTRACT
Background Cholecystectomy is one of the commonest abdominal operations performed worldwide. Sometimes, the operation can be technically difficult due to dense adhesions in Calot’s triangle. Conversion to open surgery or subtotal cholecystectomy have been described to deal with these situations. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis on STC suggested high perioperative morbidity associated with STC. These findings are at odds with a previous systematic review and meta-analysis on the topic which concluded that morbidity rates for STC were comparable to those reported for total cholecystectomy. However, both these reviews included patients undergoing Open Subtotal Cholecystectomy (OSTC). This makes it difficult for us to understand the outcomes of LSTC as surgeons are not faced with the choice of converting to open surgery to perform a subtotal cholecystectomy. The choice they face is whether they should perform a LSTC or convert to open surgery to perform a total cholecystectomy. It is, therefore, important to establish the outcomes of LSTC alone (without including patients who underwent OSTC). This is all the more important during COVID-19 pandemic when the complexity of gall stone disease appears to have worsened. There is thus an enhanced need to understand technical nuances and outcomes of LSTC alone. Methods Search strategy: We searched PUBMED (Medline), Google Scholar, and Embase for all relevant English language articles describing experience with LSTC in adult human population (≥18 years) anywhere in the world using key-words like “subtotal cholecystectomy”, “gallbladder resection”, “gallbladder excision”, “gallbladder removal”, “partial”, “incomplete”, “insufficient”, “deroofing”, and “near-total”. Case reports, articles only published as conference s, case series with <5 cases, and reviews were excluded. Only English-language studies were included. Participants: All studies with 5 or more cases, describing any experience with an adult cohort (≥18 years) of patients undergoing STC while attempting a Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy were included. Studies on patients who underwent preoperative cholecystostomy were excluded. Studies that had LSTC as part of another surgery were also excluded as we wanted to understand the morbidity and mortality of LSTC alone. Studies on patients who underwent OSTC (Open from start) were excluded as were those where the LSTC cohort was merged with the OSTC cohort and outcomes of LSTC were not separately reported. Study outcome: Primary outcome measure was early (≤30 days) morbidity and mortality. Secondary outcome measures were bile duct injury, bile leak rates, conversion to open surgery rates, duration of hospital stay, and late (>30 days) morbidity. Results 45 studies were identified, with a total of 2166 patients. Mean age was 55 +/- 15 years with 51% females;53% (n = 390) were elective procedures. The conversion rate was 6.2% (n = 135). Most common indication was acute cholecystitis (n = 763). Different techniques were used with the majority having a closed cystic duct/gallbladder stump (n = 1188, 71%). The most common closure technique was intracorporeal suturing (53%) followed by endoloop closure. There were a total of four, 30-day mortality [1] in this review. Early morbidity (≤30 days) included bile duct injury (0.23%), bile leak rates (18%), intra-abdominal collection (4%). Reoperation was reported in 23 patients (1%), most commonly for unresolving intra-abdominal collections and failed ERCP to control bile leak. Long term follow-up was reported in 30 studies with a median follow up period of 22 months. Late morbidity included incisional hernias (6%), CBD stones (2%), and symptomatic gallstones in 4% (n = 41) with 2% (n = 22) requiring completion of cholecystectomy. Conclusions Laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy is an acceptable alternative in patients with a “difficult” Calot’s triangle. However, this has to be taken seriously s it is associated with a high early and late morbidity and mortality.