Safe postoperative outcomes following early cholecystectomy for acute calculus cholecystitis regardless of symptom onset.

Objectives: There is growing evidence for reduced post-operative complications, and lower hospital costs associated with early cholecystectomy for acute calculus cholecystitis (AC) compared to delayed surgery. Limited high-quality evidence exists for how early, if at all, should surgeons be operating emergently for AC based on symptom onset.

Material and methods: Seven hundred seventy-four patients who had cholecystectomy performed by a single surgeon between January 2015-October 2022 were retrospectively reviewed. Five hundred fourty-one patients were analysed. Patients were divided into three groups based on symptom onset: Group 1: 0-72 hours (n= 305), Group 2: 72 hrs-1 week (n= 154) and Group 3: >1 week (n= 82).

Results: Median operative time was most prolonged in Group 2 (96.5 minutes), and had the greatest proportion of reconstituting 95% cholecystectomies (n= 22/154, 14.29%) compared to Group 1 (p> 0.05). The conversion to open was between 0.65-1.64% in all groups. The greatest proportion of bile leak occurred in Group 1 (n= 7/305, 2.3%) followed by Group 3 (n= 1/82, 1.22%) (p> 0.05). All were successfully managed with ERCP and biliary stent. Median hospital stay was significantly prolonged in Group 2 (2.3 days) compared to Group 1 (2 days) (p= 0.03). The proportion of 95% cholecystectomies in Group 2 and 3 were not significant compared to Group 1.

Conclusion: Early cholecystectomy for calculus cholecystitis, irrespective of the timing of symptoms appears to have safe postoperative outcomes. Surgeons do not necessarily need to limit early cholecystectomy for within 72 hours of symptom onset.