Surgical strategies in the laparoscopic therapy of cholecystolithiasis and common duct stones

Background:  The purpose of the present study was to examine the current approach and different strategies adopted for laparoscopic cholecystectomy in Germany.Methods:  A retrospective survey was conducted at 859 (n = 1200; 67.6%) hospitals in Germany. Data from 123 090 patients who had undergone cholecystectomy were analysed.Results:  71.9% of the operations were finished laparoscopically (n= 88 537) whereas 22.5% were carried out using the open technique. Conversion to open surgery was required in 7.1% of the laparoscopically started operations. When common bile duct stones were diagnosed preoperatively, 74.4% of the participants favoured the primary endoscopic extraction, following laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In cases of intraoperative diagnoses, laparoscopic cholecystectomy was finished and postoperative primary endoscopic extraction was carried out in more than half of the hospitals (58.4%). Sixteen per cent converted to an open operation with simultaneous exploration of the common duct. Laparoscopic desobstruction of the common bile duct was extremely rare (4.4%). Compared with open cholecystectomy, the results show a lower incidence of postoperative reinterventions (0.9 vs 1.8%) and fatal outcomes (0.04 vs 0.53%) for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In contrast, common bile duct injuries were more frequent in the laparoscopic cholecystectomy group (0.32 vs 0.12%). The median duration of hospitalization was 6.1 days (range: 2.8−12) in the laparoscopic cholecystectomy group compared with 10.4 days (range: 3−28) in the open cholecystectomy group.Conclusions:  Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the standard procedure for the treatment of uncomplicated gallstone disease. There are reasonable differences between the hospitals in type of cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis, management of common duct stones and intraoperative diagnostics in laparoscopic cholecystectomy, even after adjustment for differences in patient comorbidities.