LAPAROSCOPIC CHOLECYSTECTOMY - THE DAMMAM-CENTRAL-HOSPITAL EXPERIENCE

Over a one year period (June 1992-June 1993), 260 patients (208 female s and 52 males) with mean age of 37 years (range 13-80), underwent lap aroscopic cholecystectomy (LC) for symptomatic gallstones, Thirty pati ents were admitted as emergency (20 acute cholecystitis, 10 acute panc reatitis), The procedure was performed successfully in 232 cases (89%) , In 28 patients (18 electives, 10 emergencies), the procedure was con verted to open for a variety of reasons, difficult anatomy being the c ommonest, Our mean operative time was 99.9 minutes (range 30-290 minut es),There were 3 major complications (2 common bile duct injuries and one abdominal aortic injury) and 4 minor complications (2 wound infect ions, one prolonged ileus and one chest infection), There was one deat h due to sickle cell crisis on the fifth post-operative day, The mean hospital stay was 2.3 days and 6.5 days for LC and converted cases, re spectively. Our results suggest that laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be offered and conducted safely and effectively in the great majority of patients presenting acutely or electively with cholelithiasis, and that the results we achieved during the first year of our experience w ith LC is comparable to those reported from Europe and North America.