KUMJ | VOL. 5 | NO. 1 | ISSUE 17 | JAN-MAR, 2007

Predicting difficulties during laparoscopic cholecystectomy by preoperative ultrasound
Sharma SK, Thapa PB, Pandey A, Kayastha B, Poudyal S, Uprety KR, Ranjit S

Background: The aim of this study was to determine whether the preoperative USG finding can predict the risk of conversion or difficulty during the laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Materials and methods: 200 patients undergoing Laparoscopic cholecystectomy at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital were included. Sonographic parameters like size of gall bladder, wall thickness, distance between hepaticoduodenal ligament and Hartmann�s pouch and the size of stone were taken into consideration and difficulties in terms of adhesions around gall bladder, anatomy of calot�s triangle and difficulty in peeling off gall bladder from the bed and retrieval were analyzed.
Result: In 8 of 200 patients (4%), LC was converted to open procedure. In univariate analysis all the sonographicparameters we had included in this study were statically significant (p value <0.05).
Conclusion: Preoperative sonographic signs can predict the difficulty in laparoscopic cholecystectomy