Needlescopic cholecystectomy

Minimally invasive techniques have revolutionized the art of surgical practice. The laparoscopic approach to cholecystectomy has become the gold standard and is the most common laparoscopic general surgery procedure worldwide. In an effort to further enhance the advantages of laparoscopic surgery even less-invasive methods have been attempted, including smaller and fewer incisions. The objective of this study was to describe our results with over 15 years of needlescopic cholecystectomies. At the Texas Endosurgery Institute, 434 operations were done by a single surgeon from 1995 to 2010. Eighty-six percent of subjects were female, and the average age of all subjects was 41.9 years (range 14-82). The average operating time was 59.3 minutes (range 30-200). The 200-minute operation required laparoscopic CBD exploration, accounting for the extended time. Average estimated intraoperative blood loss (EBL) was <15 cc (range 0-50 cc). Two percent of cases required conversion to standard 5-mm cholecystectomy and were completed without incident. All patients are followed up at two weeks and then at six months. Since 1995, only one patient presented with a hernia at the umbilical site. Otherwise, no wound, bile duct, bile leak, bleeding, or thermal injury complications have been identified.