Laparoscopic cholecystectomy: early and late complications and their treatment

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy gained wide acceptance as treatment of choice for gallstone disease and cholecystitis. With this new technique, not only did the new era of minimal invasive surgery begin, but also the spectrum of complications changed. Laparoscopy-related complications such as access injuries and procedure-related problems are discussed in our article. Typical mishaps are reviewed according to the literature. Set-up of the pneumoperitoneum (morbidity up to 0.2%); bleeding-from trocar sites and vascular injury (mortality up to 0.2%); biliary leaks and bile duct injuries are the main topics in this article (still on a level of 0.2%-0.8%). Aetiology, diagnosis and treatment are discussed, and an overview of the most cited classifications of bile duct injuries is summarised graphically. Finally, bowel injuries as a specific complication in laparoscopy are discussed (incidence up to 0.87%).

Careful selection of patients, the knowledge of typical procedure-related complications, and their best treatment are the key points for a safe laparosopic cholecystectomy.