Safety of Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy for Cholecystitis during Pregnancy

The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety of laparoscopic cholecystectomy to treat acute cholecystitis during pregnancy.

We conducted a retrospective multicenter study including pregnant women with acute cholecystitis managed in surgery departments in Tunisia from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2019.

Seventeen centers of surgery department participated in this study including 107 cases of acute cholecystitis. The average maternal age was 30.5 years. Nonoperative management was performed in eight patients, whereas 99 other patients had surgery. Postoperative follow-up was uneventful in 93.8% of cases and eventful in 6.2% of cases. There was no mortality as far. A medical complication occurred in two patients with a medical morbidity rate of 1.7%. It was about thromboembolic disease. A surgical complication occurred in two other patients with a surgical morbidity rate of 1.7%. It was about intraperitoneal infection in one case and biliary collection in the other case. In univariate analysis, variables related significantly to maternal complication were: age equal or over 35 years old (P = 0.001), jaundice (P = 0.024), C-reactive protein value equal or over 20 mg/L (P = 0.05), and biliary peritonitis (P = 0.05). In multivariate analysis, independent variable predictive of maternal complications was age equal or over 35 years old (P = 0.003), jaundice (P = 0.003), and biliary peritonitis (P = 0.011).

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy for cholecystitis can be safely achieved in pregnant women with low rates of morbidity and mortality. This study showed that independent variable predictive of maternal complications was age equal or over 35 years old, jaundice, and biliary peritonitis.