Risk Factors Effecting Conversion from Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy to Open Surgery

Abstract

Objective:Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has obvious advantages over open surgery, such as shorter hospital stay, lower morbidity, better cosmetic results and faster return to daily activities. However, in some cases, conversion to open technique may be inevitable for patient safety or for the management of complications having occurred. Although various risk factors have been identified in many studies, variables such as technical facilities, surgical technique and experience affect risk factors. Our study aims to identify these risk factors.Method:In this study, 2,483 cholecystectomy cases performed in the general surgery clinic of our hospital between December 2013 and 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. 110 cholecystectomy cases initiated with open surgery and performed during another operation were excluded from the study, and 88 patients who were started laparoscopic surgery and converted to open surgery were selected for the study. Information on the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients was obtained from hospital records. The data of an equal number of consecutively selected patients from the patients who were completed laparoscopically were obtained and compared, and whether these factors had a significant effect on conversion to open surgery was evaluated.Results:The rate of conversion from laparoscopic cholecystectomy to open surgery was 3.7%. The most common reason for conversion to open surgery was adhesion due to inflammation (n=65, 73.9%). While male gender, advanced age, diabetes, median incision above the umbilicus, multiple millimetric calculus and increased wall thickness in ultrasonography had a significant effect on the conversion to open surgery (p0.05). The durations of hospitalization and operation were found to be significantly longer in the open group (p<0.001).Conclusion:Male gender, advanced age, presence of diabetes, presence of supra-umbilical median incision, multiple millimetric calculus and increased wall thickness in ultrasonography are associated with increased rates of conversion from laparoscopic cholecystectomy to open surgery. If the coexistence of parameters that we find significant is detected in the preoperative period, it may be possible to take precautions such as involving the experienced surgical team in the operation, planning the operating room, and providing more detailed information to the patient.

Keywords

• laparoscopic cholecystectomy
• open cholecystectomy
• risk factor