[Laparoscopic cholecystectomy as ambulatory surgery. Safety requirements, benefit potential and patient satisfaction]

Ambulatory laparoscopic cholecystectomy was attempted using a new anaesthetic regimen in 50 patients. 46 patients were discharged 3-5 hours after operation, four were admitted to and remained in hospital for 1-5 days, one for psychosocial reasons, one because of emesis and two because of extended surgery. 45 of 46 ambulatory patients were generally satisfied after having experienced ambulatory cholecystectomy. Postoperative pain and nausea were moderate. Only 24% needed parenteral opioids postoperatively, and only 30% needed anti-emetic treatment. One woman suffered unacceptable pain and discomfort during the first two days at home, and would not prefer to have ambulatory treatment (questionnaire). Four patients were readmitted. Two had a forgotten stone in the common bile duct and underwent ERCP to extract the stone, without further complications. The third had a clip occluding the common bile duct. She was reoperated on in order to remove the clip and insert a T-tube in the common bile duct. Finally one woman was readmitted because of abdominal pain and vomiting, of which we never found the cause. She recovered spontaneously. Even though serious complications associated with biliary surgery were unavoidable in this ambulatory series, we have documented that patients can be operated on safely in this way. Most patients were very content, and experienced much less postoperative discomfort than they had expected.