Abstract

NOGUERA, Miguel A et al. Outcome of the first 2000 ambulatory, laparoscopic cholecystectomies with free-standing modality in a public hospital of Argentina. Rev. argent. cir. [online]. 2018, vol.110, n.3, pp.146-151. ISSN 2250-639X.

Background: ambulatory surgery arose due to the increased demand and health expenses, allowing to reduce the cost per procedure. Efficiency may be maximized by adoption of an independent unit, but as part of a health system. Objective: to report the first 2000 cases of systematic, ambulatory laparoscopic cholecystectomies in the first public independent hospital (free-standing) of Argentina. Material and methods: in a free-standing institution, the first 2000 ambulatory laparoscopic cholecystectomies were performed in period of 36 months. All cases were non-acute, with BMI<35kg/m², aged between 13 and 65 years, categorized as ASA I or II. Results: conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy was carried out in 1766 cases, while a minimally invasive transumbilical technique was done in 234. Twelve patients required transference to another institution, 3 of them due to delay in recovery and 9 due to intraoperative findings. Three cases of choledochalstones were diagnosed intraoperativelly (1 with a single stone and 2 with multiple). Four patients required surgery at a different institution in the immediate postoperative period due to complications associated with the initial surgery. Conclusions: laparoscopic cholecystectomy in an ambulatory free-standing public hospitalis safe, with low complication rates,if the appropriate selection criteria isused. The experience in this large series of cases allowed refining the selection and treatment criteria.

Keywords : Ambulatory surgery; Free-standing; Cholecystectomy.