Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 7, 2026
Laparoscopic Anterior Right Hepatectomy: A Single-Center Experience
Published on: December 4, 2023
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy as a teaching operation: comparison of outcome between residents and attending surgeons
René Fahrner1, Matthias Turina, Valentin Neuhaus
1Department of Surgery, Spital Limmattal, 8952, Schlieren, Switzerland. r.fahrner@web.de
Purpose:
Standardized surgical training is increasingly confronted with the public demand for high quality of surgical care in modern teaching hospitals. The aim of this study was to compare the results of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) performed by resident surgeons (RS) and attending surgeons (AS).
Methods:
In this retrospective review of prospectively collected data 1,747 LC were performed in a community hospital between 1999 and 2009. Seven hundred seventy operations were performed by RS. Parameters analysed included the duration of operation and length of hospital stay, intraoperative complications, 30-day morbidity and mortality.
Results:
Duration of operation was 88 (25-245) min for RS vs. 75 (30-190) min by AS (p = 0.001). Elective operations were shorter when performed by AS (70 (30-190) [AS] vs. 85 (25-240) [RS] min, p = 0.001). Length of hospital stay was shorter in patients treated by RS (4 (1-49) days [RS] vs. 5 (1-83) days [AS], p = 0.1). Intraoperative complications showed no differences between the groups (1.0% [RS] vs. 1.3% [AS], p = 0.6), whereas 30-day morbidity was lower in patients treated by RS (3.8% [RS] vs. 6.2% [AS], p = 0.02). Overall mortality was 0.6% and independent of surgical expertise (0.5% [RS] vs. 0.8% [AS], p = 0.5).
Conclusions:
Provided adequate training, supervision and patient selection, surgical residents are able to perform LC with results comparable to those of experienced surgeons.
