Rate of complications and conversions after laparoscopic and open cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Although many advantages of laparoscopic method in regard to open one have been already proved, both surgical methods may cause a certain number of complications. The goal of the study is to answer the question: Is Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy (LC) safer and more satisfactory method than open cholecystectomy (OC) concerning number, type and seriousness of complications? DESIGN AND SETTING Prospective, the research includes all patients in Bihać Cantonal Hospital during 2007, who had cholecystectomy, laparoscopic or open, because of the gallbladder calculosus. METHODS The study has included 476 patients who had cholecystectomy and who satisfied standards for this study. Of the total number of patients, 293 of them had laparoscopic cholecystectomy and 183 open cholecystectomy. Total number of complications is established for each group of patients. RESULTS The study has shown that there were more complications in patients operated by open method than in those operated by laparoscopic cholecystectomy (p < 0.0001). Intraoperative bleeding was found in 1.63% of patients with open and 0.68% with laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Postoperative collection in abdomen were found in 2.18% of patients with open and 1.02% with laparoscopic method. The most common complications for open cholecystectomy were: infection (2.73%), hematoma in the wound (2.73%) and urine retention (2.18%). CONCLUSION It can be concluded that LC and OC are comparable procedures for the treatment of gall stone disease in terms of complications, results of this study demonstrate that LC is essentially a safe procedure with low complicatins, morbidity and mortality rate.