Canadian journal of surgery. Journal canadien de chirurgie
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
The conduct of cholecystectomy: incision, drainage, bacteriology and postoperative complications.
The benefits of some ancillary techniques of cholecystectomy are exaggerated by retrospective study of selected patients. Therefore, the authors performed a prospective, randomized study of 100 consecutive patients who underwent simple elective cholecystectomy for chronic cholecystitis and cholelithiasis. No patient was excluded because of incomplete hemostasis or fear of bile leakage. ⋯ Peritoneal drainage was found to be unnecessary. Short-term drainage may increase the frequency of postoperative fever, but did not increase pulmonary complications or wound infections. In these patients, intra-abdominal sepsis is rare; wound infections were uncommon and the gallbladder bile was usually sterile and not the cause of postoperative infection.