Cholecystectomy through single access endoscopic surgery: where do we stand?

Single access endoscopic surgery, also called laparoendoscopic single site surgery, single port access or single incision laparoscopic surgery has rapidly emerged in clinical practice for some specific indications. Among them single access cholecystectomy is rapidly diffusing in an attempt to improve cosmetic results, reduce parietal trauma, fasten recovery and answer patient's demand of this frequent surgery. While this approach is diffusing some limitations still persist in its feasibility, which have to be overcome by new development in instrumentations and refinement in techniques. And, on the other hand safety principle of minimally invasive cholecystectomy should be strictly respected to ensure our patients safe surgeries. Recent experiences and reports have shown that all these points can be respected, at least by experienced teams, while offering patients the first steps towards routine clinical scarless surgery. In this paper we will review the current status of cholecystectomy through single access endoscopic surgery regarding techniques, indications and results.