Abstract:
It remains controversial whether patients with gallstones with acute cholecystitis should be operated on early, or whether surgery should be delayed until the acute phase subsides. To help resolve this question, we retrospectively studied 109 patients with acute cholecystitis, 56 of whom underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy after acute cholecystitis had subsided (delayed group) and 53 of whom underwent early laparoscopic cholecystectomy—within 7 days after admission (early group). On admission, the inflammatory findings in the two groups were very similar; however, at operation, the inflammatory findings were alleviated in the delayed group, while they remained unchanged in the early group. The mean operative time for the two groups was very similar. As for intraoperative complications, there was no conversion to laparotomy in either group, and there were no major complications in either group. The total hospital stay was 37.7 ± 14.4 days for the delayed group and 12.7 ± 2.0 days for the early group, showing a highly significant difference (P < 0.001). Early laparoscopic cholecystectomy seems to be better than delayed treatment for patients with gallstones with acute cholecystitis.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Received: April 27, 1998/Accepted: November 27, 1998
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Isoda, N., Ido, K., Kawamoto, C. et al. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in gallstone patients with acute cholecystitis. J Gastroenterol 34, 372–375 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s005350050276
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s005350050276