[3606 cholecystectomies under celioscopy. The Register of the French Society of Digestive Surgery].

Early results of laparoscopic cholecystectomy must be evaluated. In this way, the "Société Française de Chirurgie Digestive" started to collect records of laparoscopic cholecystectomies from December 1989. 119 surgeons from 67 departments of surgery have been included in this study. By February 1992, 3,606 procedures were collected. The mean age of these patients was 51 years. Sex ratio was 0.29. 21.5% of patients had a history of acute cholecystitis. An operative cholangiogram was performed in 6.4% of cases. The mean operating time was 80 minutes. An immediate laparotomy was required in 7.1% of cases including 12 common bile duct injuries. Postoperative complications were detected in 4.3% of patients. Among these, 51 patients needed a second operative procedure including 13 common bile duct injuries. Two patients died in the postoperative period (mortality: 0.056%). The mean hospital stay was 4.8 days. History of acute cholecystitis increased significantly the immediate laparotomy required (p less than 0.01) and the incidence of postoperative complications (p less than 0.01). The mortality of laparoscopic cholecystectomy seems to be equivalent to that of open cholecystectomy. On the other hand, the incidence of common bile duct injury seems to be increased. However, the absence of controlled study prevents us from comparing the results with the open cholecystectomy. Furthermore, the incomplete nature of this register prevents us from concluding whether it reflects the real dangers of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. A more rigorous evaluating method should be considered in the future.