A drip is unnecessary after cholecystectomy

A randomized controlled study of 93 patients undergoing a cholecystectomy was performed to examine the need for intravenous fluids in the postoperative period. Forty-five patients were randomized to have only oral fluid, and these patients suffered significantly less in the way of haemodilution as measured by changes in packed cell volume (P = 0.0001), haemoglobin (P = 0.0001) and urea (P = 0.036) than those who routinely received intravenous fluids. Although questionnaires at the time of discharge showed that patients themselves did not object to an intravenous infusion, recent studies linking deep vein thromboses to haemodilution, coupled with the findings presented here, provide an argument against their routine and often unconsidered use.