An alternative approach to acute cholecystitis

Abstract

Background: The mainstay of therapy for acute cholecystitis is cholecystectomy, which has a mortality of 5–30% in high-risk patients such as the elderly or critically ill. An alternative treatment option in patients suffering from acute cholecystitis with contraindications to emergency surgery is percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) followed by interval laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Percutaneous cholecystostomy yields 10–12% mortality in high-risk patients and is therefore a safe temporizing measure, allowing delayed, elective cholecystectomy when the patient is in better condition for surgery.

Methods: Hospital charts and radiology films were reviewed for all 50 patients who underwent PC for acute cholecystitis between January 1990 and September 1993. Most patients were high risk for emergency cholecystectomy by virtue of their critical illness or underlying medical condition. Twenty-five patients went on to have interval cholecystectomies. We recorded whether they underwent laparoscopic or open cholecystectomy, as elective or emergency procedures, and we recorded direct complications, mortality, and postoperative length of hospital stay.

Results: Relief of symptoms occurred within 48 h of PC in 90% of patients, and two patients had complications of PC. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was attempted in 13 patients and competed in nine. Four patients (31%) required conversion from laparoscopic to open cholecystectomies due to extensive adhesions (3) or bleeding (1). Three patients had direct complications of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. There was no mortality or major bile duct injury.

Conclusion: Percutaneous cholecystostomy followed by interval laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a safe, minimally invasive approach which can be employed safely in the critically ill patient when contraindications to emergency surgery exist.