Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in geriatric patients

Background

The role of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in geriatric population is not yet well defined. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the convenience of laparoscopic treatment in over 70 years old patients with acute lithiasic cholecystitis.

Materials and methods

We performed a retrospective study from 1998 until 2007 for two groups of patients. The first group is composed by 110 patients underwent to laparoscopic cholecystectomy (group A) and the second group composed by 60 patients underwent to traditional laparotomy (group B). Both groups were compared for the duration of surgical procedures, for intra-operative and post-operative complications and for post-operative pain.

Results

The surgical intervention of group B had shorter operative times (70 minutes) than group A (95 minutes). The patients of group A had shorter post-operative hospital stay (3 days) than group B (7 days) and a reduction of post-operative pain. The group B had a major incidence of surgical wound sepsis (33%) and incisional hernias (5%). The post-operative complication of group A was 6.3% (7 cases) and the incidence of conversion to laparotomy was 12.7% (14 cases).

Conclusion

The correct selection of patients that undergo to laparoscopic cholecystectomy permits better results than the traditional laparotomic cholecystectomy. In fact there is a reduction of infections, hospital stay and post-operative pain.