Safety of laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy in acute cholecystitis. Experience in Southeast Mexico

Subtotal cholecystectomy has been employed in cases of tecnically difficult cholecystectomy to prevent common bile duct injury. Given that there are few reports in Mexico on the theme, we consider it important to present the 18-year experience of a surgical group in the South-Southeast of Mexico.

To determine the safety of laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy in patients with acute cholecystitis.

A retrospective, observational, and comparative study was conducted on patients with gallstones that underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The variables analyzed were: anthropometric characteristics, comorbidities, conversion rate, surgery duration, hospital stay, and morbidity and mortality.

Descriptive statistics were applied through measures of central tendency and dispersion and standard deviation, utilizing the SPSS v22 program.

A total of 1,101 medical records of patients with gallstones were reviewed. Of those patients, 223 presented with acute cholecystitis (20.25%) and they were divided into 2 groups: A) total cholecystectomy (82.95%) and B) subtotal cholecystectomy (17.05%). The anthropometric characteristics, risk factors, conversion rate, and hospital stay were similar in both groups. Only surgery duration was longer in the subtotal cholecystectomy group. Complications were more frequent, there was 1 death, and there was no bile duct injury in the subtotal cholecystectomy group. Those results were not statistically significant between the two groups.

Subtotal cholecystectomy is a valuable resource in patients with acute cholecystitis. In our case series, it was a safe and reliable procedure for preventing bile duct injury. A larger number of cases are needed to corroborate those results.