Is previous abdominal surgery a contraindication to laparoscopic cholecystectomy?

Previous abdominal surgery has been reported as a relative contraindication to laparoscopic cholecystectomy. An analysis of 193 laparoscopic cholecystectomies was undertaken to determine whether this relative contraindication led to increased morbidity, an increased rate of conversion to open cholecystectomy, or longer operating time. The results of 55 patients who had previous abdominal surgery were compared with those of 138 patients without previous abdominal surgery. Morbidity, conversion rate, and operating time were not increased in patients with previous abdominal surgery. We found both previous upper and previous lower abdominal surgery to be risk for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be performed safely in patients with previous abdominal surgery if we (1) use the cutdown technique initially, (2) dissect the adhesion before the upper midline port is inserted, (3) retrogradely dissect the gallbladder from the liver bed, and (4) divide the cystic artery and duct last.