Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy as a Day Surgery Intervention

Introduction Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is currently one of the most commonly performed surgical operations worldwide, first performed in Germany in 1985 [1]. According to the latest recommendations of researchers in the United Kingdom, 75% of laparoscopic cholecystectomies performed in day surgery should be the goal of every surgical center [1]. It is observed that in cases of laparoscopic operations, patients spend less time in the hospital, experience less trauma during the operation, experience fewer complications and are more satisfied with the postoperative cosmetic results [2]. For these reasons, surgical centers strive to develop day surgery services and discharge patients on the same day after surgery. This paper will discuss the results of how often patients were discharged home on the same day after laparoscopic cholecystectomy in Kaunas hospital. Aim To determine how often patients after laparoscopic cholecystectomy were discharged home on the same day after surgery To determine most common reasons, why patients could not be discharged on the same day after laparoscopic cholecystectomy Methods Medical histories of 109 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the day surgery department of Kaunas Hospital in September - November 2024 were analyzed. Information about the course of the operative and postoperative periods was collected from the patients’ documentation. Personal data of patients was not collected. The data was processed using the IBM SPSS Statistics program. The results are published only in summary form. Results Out of 109 patients, that were operated in the months of September – November of 2024, 77 patients had smooth operative and postoperative periods, the patients did not complain after the operation and were discharged from the day surgery department on \the same day after the operation. This represents 70.6% of the patients who participated in the study. The remaining 32 (29.4%) patients had some postoperative complaints that prevented them from being discharged home on the same postoperative day. Out of 32 undischarged patients, 19 (59,4%) expressed severe postoperative pain, and the remaining 13 (40,6%) experienced post-anesthetic complications - nausea, vomiting, general weakness. Conclusions 70.6% of laparoscopic cholecystectomy cases are done as a day surgery intervention Most common reason that prevented patients from being discharged home on the same day was postoperative pain