Laparoscopic cholecystectomy under spinal anaesthesia: a prospective study

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anaesthesia is the present gold standard in treatment of symptomatic gall bladder disease. This study was conducted to determine the efficacy and safety of laparoscopic cholecystectomy under spinal anaesthesia which could be more cost effective. A prospective study was conducted was over a fourteen month period at a teaching hospital to evaluate efficacy, safety and cost benefit of conducting laparoscopic cholecystectomy under spinal anaesthesia(SA). Patients meeting inclusion criteria were taken up for laparoscopic cholecystectomy under spinal anaesthesia by standardized techniques. They underwent standard four port laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Mean anaesthesia time, pneumoperitoneum time and surgery time defined primary outcome measures. Intraoperative events and post operative pain score were the secondary outcomes measured. All patients underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy without any major complications. None had to be converted to general anaesthesia in this series. The operation had to be converted to open incision in 3 patients. Commonest complaint was pain in right shoulder and anxiety at the beginning of operation/pneumoperitoneum. All patients were highly or well satisfied during follow up. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy done under spinal anaesthesia as a routine anaesthesia of choice is feasible and safe. In this study spinal anaesthesia for laparoscopic cholecystectomy was found to be safe even in patients with respiratory problems, cost-effective, with minimal postoperative pain and smooth recovery; the disadvantage being occasional right shoulder pain following pneumo-peritoneum (40%). Spinal anaesthesia can be recommended to be the anaesthesia technique of choice for conducting laparoscopic cholecystectomy in hospital setups where cost is a major factor; provided proper backup is present.