Laparoscopic cholecystectomy for symptomatic gallstones in diabetic patients

Purpose: To find out whether diabetes mellitus is a risk factor in patients who undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomy because of symptomatic gallbladde r stones. Patients and Methods: Eight hundred sixty-two patients with symptomatic gal lbladder stones underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy at our institution b etween January 1993 and July 2000. Age, sex, risk classification of the Ame rican Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), laboratory tests, operative recor ds, morbidity, and length of hospital stay for each patient were analyzed. Results: There were 184 (21%) diabetic and 678 (79%) nondiabetic patients. The ASA class I applied to 534 nondiabetic (control) patients (79%), and AS A class II to 161 diabetic (study) patients (88%). There was no significant difference between the diabetic and nondiabetic patients regarding leukocy te count, bilirubin, or amylase levels. Operative and postoperative complic ation rates were significantly higher in the diabetic patients. Conversion to open surgery was required in 19 of 678 patients in the control group (2. 8%) and 13 of 184 in the study group (7.1%). The operative time and length of hospital stay were not significantly different in the two groups. Conclusions: Although they had the same symptoms and laboratory findings, l aparoscopic cholecystectomy in diabetic patients is associated with more mo rbidity and a higher conversion rate than in nondiabetic patients.