The Time to Discharge and Pain Reliever Intake Depending on the Use of a Drain After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the standard surgical treatment for symptomatic gallbladder diseases. In clinical practice, it can be followed by drainage or not. The results acquired so far regarding drain insertion are mixed. The current study used data from medical records and aimed to provide results verifying whether there are differences between patients with postoperative drains inserted after laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the group of patients without postoperative drains, with regard to the time from surgery to discharge and the intake of pain relievers, while controlling for patients' age and gender. Methods: Medical records regarding 209 patients, 151 females, and 58 males aged 20-83 were included in the analysis. Results: The time from surgery to discharge was significantly longer in the group of patients with a postoperative drain inserted, both in terms of days (1.27 vs. 1.05) and in terms of hours (29.48 vs. 23.04). Also, the amount of Pyralgin and Paracetamol used was significantly higher in the group of patients with a postoperative drain inserted (3.33 g vs. 2.41 g, and 3.40 g vs. 2.45 g, respectively). Conclusions: The results acquired are consistent with many other studies. However, some studies do not show these differences. Therefore, to provide a definitive answer, a meta-analysis followed by meta-regression is needed.