Abstract
BACKGROUND: The importance of postoperative control of laboratory parameters after elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy (lap-CHE) is controversial. The aim of this prospective study was to find out whether patients can be safely discharged following an inconspicuous perioperative course after lap-CHE without control of the laboratory parameters. METHOD: All patients with a lap-CHE from September 2020 to March 2022 were screened and included in the study after providing informed consent. The course was followed in a structured way with a scoring system (value 3-15 points) and questionnaire. A score of ≤ 9 reflected an inconspicuous perioperative course. Approval was obtained from the ethics committee of Heidelberg University (S-026/2020). RESULTS: A total of 275 patients who underwent gall bladder surgery were documented of which 220 (80%) patients underwent an elective lap-CHE and 56 (25%) of the patients were included in the study. Of the patients 51 with a score of ≤ 9 were discharged without providing a blood sample. The average age of the patients was 50.8 years, the average duration of hospital stay was 2.6 days and 40 out of 51 (78.4%) patients could be postoperatively questioned. None of the patients suffered from relevant complications after being discharged. Out of 40 patients 27 (67.5) visited a general practitioner again postoperatively and 4 were readmitted as inpatients due to other operations and an endoscopic intervention. All patients were satisfied with the course of surgery. CONCLUSION: Patients with an inconspicuous course after elective lap-CHE (score ≤ 9 points) can be discharged without a postoperative control of laboratory parameters.