Laparoscopic cholecystectomy: Initial experience at Riyadh Central Hospital.

This paper presents our experience with laparoscopic cholecystectomy during the initial three months since its introduction at Riyadh Central Hospital. One hundred and sixty patients were admitted with gallstone disease. The majority were females (74%) and Saudis (56%). Seventy-six patients (47.5%) were admitted through the emergency department with acute cholecystitis, mucocele of the gallbladder, biliary pancreatitis, biliary colicm or obstructive jaundice. One hundred twenty-seven patients (69.4%) were submitted to laparoscopic cholecystectomy, which was successfully performed on 120 patients (94.5%). Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was converted to open cholecystectomy in seven patients (5.5%). Thirty-three patients (20.6%) were directly submitted to open cholecystectomy for various contraindications to laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Overall, 75% of patients with gallstone disease were treated by laparoscopic cholecystectomy. There was only one major complication (duodenal perforation) of laparoscopic cholecystectomy and no mortality in the series. The average operating time for laparoscopic cholecystectomy and no mortality in the series. The average operating time for laparoscopic cholecystectomy was 175 minutes. The average hospital stay was 3.6 days and 8.9 days following laparoscopic cholecystectomy and open cholecystectomy, respectively.