Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy is Safe Both Day and Night

Area of Science:

• Surgical outcomes
• Gastrointestinal surgery
• Patient safety

Background:

• Previous reports suggest increased complications and conversion rates for nighttime laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC).
• This study challenges the notion that LC performed at night is inherently riskier.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the safety and efficacy of performing laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) at night.
• To determine if nighttime LC is associated with increased complications or longer hospital stays compared to daytime procedures.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of adult, nonelective laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) cases.
• Cases were divided into daytime and nighttime groups for comparative analysis.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were observed in patient demographics, comorbidities, operative time, blood loss, conversion rates, or 60-day mortality between day and night LC.
• Nighttime LC patients had a shorter median total length of stay (LOS) compared to daytime patients.
• While daytime patients had higher initial bilirubin and lipase levels, this did not translate to adverse outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) can be safely performed at any hour.
• The findings support performing LC regardless of the time of day, with no increased risk to patients.