Gallstones that form in the gallbladder can lead to discomfort in the upper abdomen. The recommended treatment for this condition involves surgical removal of the gallbladder using a minimally invasive technique known as laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Traditionally, patients would stay in the hospital overnight after the procedure, but increasingly, it is feasible to perform the surgery as a day-surgery, allowing patients to return home on the same day.
In this Cochrane review patient-centered outcomes, including mortality, severe adverse events, and quality of life are compared and the results were:
Day surgery for laparoscopic cholecystectomy appears to be equally safe as overnight-stay surgery. However, it does not appear to lead to improvements in patient-oriented outcomes, such as a quicker return to normal activity or an earlier return to work. The reliability of these conclusions from randomized clinical trials is somewhat compromised due to potential systematic errors (bias) and random errors (chance). To comprehensively evaluate the impact of day-surgery laparoscopic cholecystectomy, additional randomized clinical trials are necessary.
Resources:
Vaughan J, Gurusamy KS, Davidson BR. Day‐surgery versus overnight stay surgery for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2013, Issue 7. Art. No.: CD006798. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006798.pub4. Accessed 28 February 2024.
