Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy in Jos: Prospects and Perspectives

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is now done in a lot more private and public hospital settings presently in low-income countries, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. Though it is not routinely done in these centres, the percentage of cholecystectomies done laparoscopically has increased over the years. Laparoscopic surgery services were introduced at our hospital in 2011 and this retrospective study reviews our outcomes with the procedure over a 6-year period. A total of 87 cholecystectomies were done in the period under review. Forty-eight (55.2%) were laparoscopic cholecystectomies, 30 (44.8%) were open cholecystectomies, and 9 (10.3%) were mini-laparotomy cholecystectomies. There were 32 (66.7%) women and 16 (33.3%) men who had laparoscopic cholecystectomy giving a male-to-female ratio of 1:2. The mean age of the patients was 41.0 years (SD = 14.3 years). The most common indication for laparoscopic cholecystectomy was calculous cholecystitis. The most common co-morbidity was hypertension in 23 (47.9%) patients, followed by sickle cell anaemia in 10 (20.8%) patients. The operating time ranged from 70 min to 120 min with a mean of 86.6 (SD = 14.5). There were three conversions and two intra-operative complications. Twenty-five patients (52.1%) were discharged within 24 h, 16 (33.3%) within 48 h and the rest (14.6%) were discharged later. The duration of surgery had a significant association with duration of hospital stay. There was 1 mortality in our study. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy offers unique advantages over open such as decreased length of hospital stay and reduced wound complications. Most of the cholecystectomies in our setting are now performed laparoscopically with a low conversion rate and low incidence of bile duct injuries. Patients with sickle cell disease constitute a significant percentage of patients requiring this procedure.