P-EGS01 Cholecystectomy after gall stone pancreatitis

Background According to the UK guidelines for the management of acute pancreatitis commissioned by the British Society of Gastroenterology, All patients presenting with gallstone pancreatitis should be considered for cholecystectomy when they are well enough to undergo surgery. In cases of mild biliary pancreatitis, cholecystectomy should ideally be performed during the index admission or within 2 weeks of discharge as interval cholecystectomy is associated with a significant risk of readmission for recurrent biliary events. In cases of severe gallstone pancreatitis, cholecystectomy may need to be delayed until collections have improved, unless the patient is well enough for surgery and the gallbladder is some distance from the collection Methods Methods Inclusion Criteria Exclusion Criteria Results 80 patients were collected during the study period, 96 % of them were classified as mild pancreatitis Cholecystectomy rate Total percentage of cholecystectomies performed for mild gall stone pancreatitis during index admission or within 2 weeks from discharge : 37% Percentage of early cholecystectomies for eligible patients (i.e.after ruling out unfit patients, patients declining treatment, previous cholecystectomy..etc) : 54% Re-admission rate Re-admission rate for early cholecystectomy patients : 7.4% Re-admission rate for delayed cholecystectomy patients : 20.7% Conclusions

Use of percutaneous cholecystostomy for complicated acute lithiasic cholecystitis: solving or deferring the problem?

Objective: Percutaneous cholecystostomies are not infrequently used as an adjunct in the treatment of severe lithiasic cholecystitis, particularly in unstable and comorbid patients. However, their out of proportion liberal use tends to substitute the performance of emergency cholecystectomy, which the definitive treatment. Our aim was to assess the short and long-term outcomes of patients who had percutaneous cholecystostomy insertion due to severe lithiasic cholecystitis, aiming to define areas for improvement of our institutional practice. Materials and Methods: Retrospective review of our institutional practice including all patients who had a percutaneous cholecystostomy for complex lithiasic cholecystitis, over a 5-year period, allowing for an additional 1-year follow up. Results: A total of 34 patients were included in our final analysis. Percutaneous cholecystostomy insertion enabled quick and efficient control of the source of biliary sepsis without major procedural complications in all cases. In 14 (41.2%) patients, cholecystostomy alone served as definitive treatment, while in 20 (58.9%) cases it was used as bridging strategy for delayed elective cholecystectomy. In the delayed cholecystectomy group of patients, we noted a high conversion rate from laparoscopic to open surgery rate of 70%, with an overall subtotal cholecystectomy rate of 60%. Conclusion: Percutaneous cholecystostomies should be reserved only for complex lithiasic cholecystitis patients who are unwilling and/or unfit for surgery. We advocate the performance of upfront emergency cholecystectomy in any other case with liberal use of operative bail-out strategies, as a delayed elective operation is anyway likely to be converted to open and/or subtotal cholecystectomy.

Surgical Treatment of Gallstone Ileus: Less Is More

Introduction: The objective of this study was to evaluate the need for cholecystectomy in patients who underwent surgery for gallstone ileus. Methods: This was a retrospective review of the clinical history of patients who underwent surgery for gallstone ileus between December 1992 and December 2018 and follow-up until October 2020. Data regarding the surgical intervention, location of the obstruction, and surgical procedure performed were collected, as well as complications in relation to biliary pathology in the postoperative period. Results: Twenty-five patients underwent surgery for gallstone ileus. In all patients, except one, the site of the obstruction was identified. The mean age of the patients was 72 (standard deviation [SD] 13.3) years, with a female predominance (18: 7). The patients presented symptoms, on average, 2.9 (1–7) days before going to the emergency room; the primary symptoms were vomiting associated with abdominal pain and constipation (56%). Fifty-six percent of patients were diagnosed preoperatively by imaging tests. In 72% of patients, an enterolithotomy was performed alone without any other intervention on the gallbladder or bile duct. Eighty-three percent of the patients did not present any cholecystobiliary complications during the entire follow-up period, and urgent or delayed cholecystectomy was not performed after the acute episode. Conclusions: Gallstone ileus is a rare entity, and there are no randomized studies that support a preferred treatment. If surgical intervention is required, enterotomy for stone extraction is a safe and effective technique, and in our experience, urgent or delayed cholecystectomy is not necessary.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of gallstone disease treatment outcomes in early cholecystectomy versus conservative management/delayed cholecystectomy

BackgroundThe effectiveness of early cholecystectomy for gallstone diseases treatment is uncertain compared with conservative management/delayed cholecystectomy.AimsTo synthesise treatment outcomes of early cholecystectomy versus conservative management/delayed cholecystectomy in terms of its safety and effectiveness.DesignWe systematically searched randomised control trials investigating the effectiveness of early cholecystectomy compared with conservative management/delayed cholecystectomy. We pooled the risk ratios with a 95% CI, also estimated adjusted number needed to treat to harm.ResultsOf the 40 included studies for systematic review, 39 studies with 4483 patients are included in meta-analysis. Among the risk ratios of gallstone complications, pain (0.38, 0.20 to 0.74), cholangitis (0.52, 0.28 to 0.97) and total biliary complications (0.33, 0.20 to 0.55) are significantly lower with early cholecystectomy. Adjusted number needed to treat to harm of early cholecystectomy compared with conservative management/delayed cholecystectomy are, for pain 12.5 (8.3 to 33.3), biliary pancreatitis >1000 (50–100), common bile duct stones 100 (33.3 to 100), cholangitis (100 (25–100), total biliary complications 5.9 (4.3 to 9.1) and mortality >1000 (100 to100 000).ConclusionsEarly cholecystectomy may result in fewer biliary complications and a reduction in reported abdominal pain than conservative management.PROSPERO registration number2020 CRD42020192612.

Time to abandon the old dictum of delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy after acute cholecystitis has settled in Caribbean practice

Although laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the gold standard treatment for acute cholecystitis, many Caribbean surgeons are reluctant to operate during the acute attack. We collected data for all consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute cholecystitis from January 1 to 31 December 2018. Delayed cholecystectomy was done >6 weeks after acute cholecystitis settled. We compared data between early and delayed groups. Delayed laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed in 54 patients, and 42 had early laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Delayed surgery resulted in significantly more complications requiring readmission (39% vs 0), longer operations (2.27 vs 0.94 h) and lengthier post-operative hospitalisation (1.84 vs 1.1 days). Caribbean hospitals should abandon the practice of delayed surgery after cholecystitis has settled. Early laparoscopic cholecystectomy would be financially advantageous for our institutions, and it would save patients recurrent attacks of gallstone disease.

Concomitant versus Delayed Cholecystectomy in Bariatric Surgery

Background. Obesity and weight loss after bariatric surgery have a close association with gallbladder disease. The performance and proper timing of laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) with bariatric surgery remain a clinical question. Objective. Evaluation of the outcome of LC during bariatric surgery whether done concomitantly or delayed according to the level of intraoperative difficulty. Methods. The prospective study included patients with morbid obesity between December 2018 and December 2019 with preoperatively detected gallbladder stones. According to the level of difficulty, patients were allocated into 2 groups: group 1 included patients who underwent concomitant LC during bariatric surgery, and group 2 included patients who underwent delayed LC after 2 months. In group 1, patients were further divided into subgroups: LC either at the beginning (subgroup A) or after bariatric surgery (subgroup B). Results. Operative time in group 1 vs. 2 was 92.63 ± 28.25 vs. 68.33 ± 17.49 ( p < 0.001 ), and in subgroup A vs. B, it was 84.19 ± 19.62 vs. 130.0 ± 31.62 ( p < 0.001 ). One patient in each group (2.6% and 8.3%) had obstructive jaundice, p > 0.001 . In group 2, 33% of asymptomatic patients became symptomatic for biliary colic p > 0.001 . LC difficulty score was 2.11 ± 0.70 vs. 5.66 ± 0.98 in groups 1 and 2, respectively, p < 0.001 . LC difficulty score decreased in group 2 from 5.66 ± 0.98 to 2.26 ± 0.78 after 2 months of bariatric surgery, p < 0.001 . Conclusion. Timing for LC during bariatric surgery is challenging and should be optimized for each patient as scheduling difficult LC to be performed after 2 months may be an option.

271 Factors Affecting the Decision to Perform Same Admission Cholecystectomy Following Biliary Pancreatitis: A Comparative Study

Introduction Same admission cholecystectomy is recommended following biliary pancreatitis to prevent recurrent attacks. However, delaying surgery may be appropriate in certain cases. We aimed to compare patient and admission factors between those undergoing same admission and delayed cholecystectomy. Method Admissions with confirmed biliary pancreatitis over a 5-year period were included. Demographics, co-morbidities, need for intensive treatment unit (ITU) admission and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) were analysed to determine differences between those undergoing same admission and delayed cholecystectomy. Results 55 and 46 patients underwent same admission and delayed cholecystectomy respectively. There was no difference in age (59 vs 59.2 years, p = 0.947), history of cardiovascular disease (38.2 vs 34.8%, p = 0.724), diabetes (7.3 vs 8.7%, p = 0.792) anticoagulation (7.3 vs 6.5%, p = 0.882) or previous abdominal surgery (0 vs 6.25%, p = 0.05) between groups. Only need for ITU admission (5.5 vs 21.7%, p = 0.01) and ERCP (9.1 vs 28.3%, p = 0.01) were found to be statistically different between groups. Conclusions Severity of pancreatitis, rather than patient factors, alone seems to influence the decision to perform same admission cholecystectomy in those with biliary pancreatitis. Further work is needed to understand surgeon factors in the decision-making process.