Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is less expensive than open cholecystectomy

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is emerging as the most attractive alternative to open cholecystectomy (OC) ever offered to patients. It combines a rapid recovery time with definitive therapy for their affliction. In addition to its greater acceptance by patients, LC has the potential to be more economical than OC because of the markedly shorter hospital stay required by most patients who have undergone LC. In this article we compare the hospital charges for patients undergoing LC with a matched group of patients undergoing OC. The hospital charge was $4,070 +/- 297 (mean +/- SEM) for patients undergoing LC and $5,017 +/- 497 for patients undergoing OC. This difference arises from the mean cost of in-patient care, which was $353 +/- 40 for LC patients and $1,335 +/- 138 for OC patients. LC appeared to be a bargain, both economically and physiologically.