Egyptian Journal of Surgery, Vol
(18), No (1), Feb., 1999: 51-54
This comparative clinical study was
conducted on 61 patients with chronic calcular cholecystitis, to determine
the postoperative effects of different incision lengths on patients undergoing
elective open cholecystectomy. 31 underwent minicholecystectomy through
a subcostal incision of mean length of 6 cm and 30 underwent conventional
cholecystectomy though a subcostal incision of mean length of 13 cm.
The postoperative analgesic requirements
were similar in both groups. 4/31 and 1/30 developed wound haematoma, in
the minicholecystectomy group and the conventional cholecystectomy group
respectively.
Shortening the incision by 50% did
not result in significant reduction in analgesic intake. Minicholecystectomy
may only be cosmetically better than conventional cholecystectomy. Conventional
cholecystectomy is suggested to be performed as the conversion operation
after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
