LAPAROSCOPIC CHOLECYSTECTOMY - A SURVEY OF THE SOCIETE-FRANCAISE-DE-CHIRURGIE-ENDOSCOPIQUE-ET-DE-RADIOLOGIE-OPERATOIRE - A REPORT OF 937 CASES

Twenty-eight surgeons, members of the Societe Francaise de Chirurgie Endoscopique et de Radiologie Operatoire, took part in this multicenter study, carried out between March 1989 and January 1991. Nine hundred and thirty-seven patients were entered into the study, 934 of whom presented with biliary lithiasis and 3 with gallbladder polyps. Biliary colic was found in 918 (98 percent) of patients. One hundred and twenty-five patients (13.3 percent) presented with acute cholecystitis. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy had to be converted to traditional laparotomy in 50 cases (5.3 percent). The most frequent causes of conversion were the presence of cholecystitis (34 percent) and the occurrence of hemorrhage which could not be controlled laparoscopically (18 percent). There was one death (mortality rate: 0.1 percent) and there were 37 postoperative complications (morbidity rate: 3.9 percent) which required reoperation in 11 instances: 4 laparatomies, 5 laparoscopies and 2 ultrasonography guided drainages. The mean duration of postoperative hospital stay for patients without complications or conversion was 3.8 days. These results show both the limits and the advantages of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This new technique is now well established and should be added to other therapies used in the treatment of patients with biliary lithiasis.