Delay from Symptom Onset Increases the Conversion Rate In Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy for Acute Cholecystitis

Excerpt

In this month’s World Journal of Surgery, Hadad et al. report a retrospective analysis of patients undergoing attempted laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis. They assessed whether the interval from the onset of symptoms to operation was related to the conversion rate to open cholecystectomy. Of the entire group, nearly one-fourth were converted to an open cholecystectomy. The conversion rate was 10% among patients operated on within 2 days after the onset of symptoms versus 16% for those operated on 3 or 4 days after the onset of symptoms versus 39% for those operated 5 days or more after the onset of symptoms. The authors recommend operating on these patients as soon as possible after admission. …