Laparoscopic cholecystectomy in Brazil: analysis of 33,563 cases.

The authors present the results obtained in 33,563 laparoscopic cholecystectomies performed in Brazil from 1990 to 1995. Data were obtained by mailing questionnaires to 220 Services, 118 of which responded. The features included the year when the service started its activities, patient distribution by sex and age, surgical indications, prophylaxis with antibiotics, use of nasogastric and vesical catheters, technique used to produce pneumoperitoneum, intraoperative cholangiography, management of choledocholithiasis, necessity and causes of conversion to open surgery, surgical time, intra and postoperative complications, time of hospitalization, mortality, patient return to normal activities, and laparoscopic cholecystectomy in pregnancy. Analysis of the results demonstrated that the data are equivalent to those obtained in leading world countries and at times even better in terms of lesion of the main bile duct, time of hospitalization, etc.