Serious complications of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in New York State

Serious surgical complications following laparoscopic cholecystectomy are described in a series of 17 patients who underwent the procedure in New York State in 1990 and 1991. Among the 17 cases, the most frequent complication (41.1%) was laceration of the common bile duct and/or right hepatic duct. Other serious surgical complications included perforation or laceration of the small bowel, laceration or injury of an intrahepatic bile duct, and post-operative bleeding. Some of the serious complications described here, such as laceration of the aorta and iatrogenic resection of portions of the extrahepatic biliary tree, have not been previously described. The results of this study point out the need for carefully designed retrospective and prospective studies to assess the prevalence of complications from this procedure.