Recommendation for Photographic Documentation of Safe Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Background Bile duct injury and vasculobiliary injury are possible complications during laparoscopic cholecystectomy which can lead to increased morbidity, mortality, costs of hospitalization and litigation. Proper documentation of the critical view of safety and safe plane of dissection may play a crucial role for archivization, teaching and medicolegal purposes. Methods The study group consisted of 100 patients with symptomatic cholecystolithiasis qualified for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The critical view of safety was documented on two photographs and safe plain of dissection obtained with laparoscopic ultrasound was documented on one photograph as well as the whole procedure was recorded. The photographs were printed in the operating theatre and videos were stored on an external hard drive. Results The mean time to obtain and analyse photographs was significantly shorter than video, and the size of the stored data was significantly smaller for photographs than videos. The cost of one documentation procedure was significantly lower for video than photographs. Critical view of safety was obtained in 91 patients, and laparoscopic ultrasound was successful in 99 patients. The conversion rate was 2%, and fundus-first cholecystectomies were performed in 6% of patients. We did not observe any biliary and vascular complications. Conclusions Photographic documentation of the critical view of safety and safe plane of dissection should be an inherent part of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Our proposal of documentation prepared in the operating theatre and stored in the patient’s documentation is an example of an easy, fast and cheap method of data archivization.

Severe case of post cholecystectomy vasculobiliary injury successfully treated by right hepatectomy with a jump graft to the remaining left hepatic lobe

Vasculobiliary injuries (VBI) caused by cholecystectomies are infrequent but extremely serious. We report a case of a severe VBI successfully treated at our center. A 22-year-old woman underwent an open cholecystectomy as treatment for acute cholecystitis and bile duct stones. She was transferred to our center on postoperative Day 4 because of progressive jaundice and encephalopathy. After a proper investigation, we found an extreme VBI with infarction of the right hepatic lobe associated with complete interruption of the portal vein and proper hepatic artery flows and full section of the common hepatic duct. Right hepatectomy with portal—Rex shunt revascularization of the left hepatic lobe and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy to the left hepatic duct was done. The patient was discharged on the 60th postoperative day. Discussion: This case shows the successful surgical treatment of a severe cholecystectomy’s VBI, avoiding an emergency liver transplant.

Porta Hepatis Injury during Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

Iatrogenic porta hepatis injury is a rare but devastating surgical complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. There are no systematic studies examining the best treatment strategy in patients with this injury. We present a case of a 23-year-old woman with a large abscess in the right hepatic lobe due to an extreme vasculobiliary injury after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Although rare, the impact of vasculobiliary injuries after cholecystectomy highlights the need for constant alertness and prompt management in order to minimize mortality and morbidity usually associated with the routine operative procedure.

Gastroduodenal Artery as the Inflow Tract to Repair the Right Hepatic Artery in a Combined Vasculobiliary Injury after Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

The frequency and significance of right hepatic artery injury associated with bile duct injury after laparoscopic cholecystectomy is unknown. Many reports suggest that a concomitant arterial injury worsens the outcome and prognosis of the bile duct injury even after an initially successful biliary repair. The optimal management of this complicated injury is controversial. We report a surgical technique to repair the right hepatic artery injury in these cases. We believe this technique is useful for surgeons who opt to repair the arterial injury at the time of biliary reconstruction, especially if it is performed soon after the injury occurred, before permanent damage to the liver and biliary system is established. To the best of our knowledge, this technique was not reported in the literature previously.