Incidental Cholecystectomy during Major Abdominal Surgery

Kim, Joong Sup; Sohn, Tae Kyung; Shin, Hyun Uk; Lee, Young Chul; Chung, Kyung Suk

Abstract

Not rarely, the abdominal surgeon is confronted with the finding of gallstones and cholecystitis while performing a nonbiliary procedure. This study was performed to evaluate the postoperative effects of incidental cholecystectomy in patients who received major non-biliary abdominal surgery.
METHODS
A total of 63 patients who received incidental cholecystectomy during major abdominal surgery were reviewed.
RESULTS
Two major proceding problems for abdominal surgery in this study were intraabdominal malignancies and gastroduodeual diseases. There were no significant differences in the mean hospital days, operating time, morbidity (46.2% vs. 37.5%, p 0.05) and mortality (7.7% vs. 4.2%, p 0.05) between the unplanned cholecystectomy group (39 patients) and planned cholecystectomy group (24 patients). However, there were significant differences in the mean hospital days and morbidity (88.9% vs. 24.4%, p 0.05) between the patients aged over 65 (18) and the patients aged under 65 (45). The mortality showed no statistical difference according to age (16.7% vs. 2.2%, p 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that unplanned incidental cholecystectomy for gallstones and cholecystitis during major abdominal surgery is justified if it is easily accessible and the condition of the patient warrants the additional procedure.