Safe Cholecystectomy Multi-society Practice Guideline and State of the Art Consensus Conference on Prevention of Bile Duct Injury During Cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUND: BDI is the most common serious complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. To address this problem, a multi-society consensus conference was held to develop evidenced-based recommendations for safe cholecystectomy and prevention of BDI. METHODS: Literature reviews were conducted for 18 key questions across 6 broad topics around cholecystectomy directed by a steering group and subject experts from 5 surgical societies (Society of Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, Americas Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association, International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association, Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, and European Association for Endoscopic Surgery). Evidence-based recommendations were formulated using the grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation methodology. When evidence-based recommendations could not be made, expert opinion was documented. A number of recommendations for future research were also documented. Recommendations were presented at a consensus meeting in October 2018 and were voted on by an international panel of 25 experts with greater than 80% agreement considered consensus. RESULTS: Consensus was reached on 17 of 18 questions by the guideline development group and expert panel with high concordance from audience participation. Most recommendations were conditional due to low certainty of evidence. Strong recommendations were made for (1) use of intraoperative biliary imaging for uncertainty of anatomy or suspicion of biliary injury; and (2) referral of patients with confirmed or suspected BDI to an experienced surgeon/multispecialty hepatobiliary team. CONCLUSIONS: These consensus recommendations should provide guidance to surgeons, training programs, hospitals, and professional societies for strategies that have the potential to reduce BDIs and positively impact patient outcomes. Development of clinical and educational research initiatives based on these recommendations may drive further improvement in the quality of surgical care for patients undergoing cholecystectomy.

Safe cholecystectomy multi-society practice guideline and state-of-the-art consensus conference on prevention of bile duct injury during cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUND: Bile duct injury (BDI) is the most common serious complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. To address this problem, a multi-society consensus conference was held to develop evidenced-based recommendations for safe cholecystectomy and prevention of BDI. METHODS: Literature reviews were conducted for 18 key questions across six broad topics around cholecystectomy directed by a steering group and subject experts from five surgical societies (SAGES, AHPBA IHPBA, SSAT, and EAES). Evidence-based recommendations were formulated using the GRADE methodology. When evidence-based recommendations could not be made, expert opinion was documented. A number of recommendations for future research were also documented. Recommendations were presented at a consensus meeting in October 2018 and were voted on by an international panel of 25 experts with greater than 80% agreement considered consensus. RESULTS: Consensus was reached on 17 of 18 questions by the Guideline Development Group (GDG) and expert panel with high concordance from audience participation. Most recommendations were conditional due to low certainty of evidence. Strong recommendations were made for (1) use of intraoperative biliary imaging for uncertainty of anatomy or suspicion of biliary injury; and (2) referral of patients with confirmed or suspected BDI to an experienced surgeon/multispecialty hepatobiliary team. CONCLUSION: These consensus recommendations should provide guidance to surgeons, training programs, hospitals, and professional societies for strategies that have the potential to reduce BDIs and positively impact patient outcomes. Development of clinical and educational research initiatives based on these recommendations may drive further improvement in the quality of surgical care for patients undergoing cholecystectomy.

Laparoscopic repair of recurrent inguinal hernia offers similar outcomes and quality of life to primary laparoscopic repair.

OBJECTIVE: Open repair of recurrent inguinal hernias has been shown to result in significantly poorer perioperative outcomes when compared to open primary hernia repair. However, limited data exist comparing primary and recurrent laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (LIHR). The aim of our study was to compare quality of life and clinical outcomes between these two groups. METHODS: Patients undergoing LIHR at a single institution from 2012 to 2018 were reviewed from a prospectively managed quality database. Quality of life outcomes were measured using the surgical outcomes measurement system and Carolinas Comfort Scale surveys administered preoperatively and at 3 weeks, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years postoperatively. RESULTS: A total of 1298 patients undergoing LIHR were analyzed (1139 primary, 159 recurrent). There were older and more male patients in the recurrent group. There were no major complications, and recurrence rates were not significantly different between primary and recurrent groups (1.3% vs 2.4% p = 0.56), while hematoma occurred more commonly in the recurrent group (1.5% vs 4.4% p = 0.0205). Short- and long-term quality of life were similar between the groups except lower (worse) physical function at 3 weeks (32.9 ± 4.2 vs 31.9 ± 4.4: p = 0.0186) and 6 months (34.6 ± 2.8 vs 33.8 ± 3.0: p = 0.0175) and increased sensation of mesh (3 weeks) in the recurrent group (2.3 ± 5.4 vs 3.3 ± 5.3: p = 0.0160). CONCLUSION: Recurrent inguinal hernia repair using laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal approach is as safe and effective as primary repair with similar quality of life.