Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the pregnant patient

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has rapidly replaced open cholecystectomy as the preferred surgical treatment of symptomatic cholelithiasis. Although the indications are similar for both procedures, some surgeons believe that pregnancy is a contraindication for the laparoscopic approach. Several recent reports in the literature have shown that laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be performed safely in the pregnant patient. A review of all patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy from January 1991 to January 1993 at Scott Air Force Base (AFB) and Edwards AFB was performed. Of 248 patients reviewed, four procedures were performed in the gravid patient. All patients were operated on during the second trimester of pregnancy. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was successful in all four. Cholangiogram was performed in two patients. No postoperative morbidity was encountered (maternal or fetal). Twenty-one cases of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the pregnant patient, with no fetal or maternal morbidity or mortality, have been reported in the literature to date. We conclude that in selected cases, laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be performed safely during pregnancy.