Surgical Complications in Hepatitis C Patients Undergoing Cholecystectomy.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C (HCV) affects over 2.2 million people in the United States and is associated with liver cirrhosis and gallstone formation. However, cholecystectomy outcomes of HCV patients compared to non-HCV patients are not well studied. This study aims to examine differences in cholecystectomy outcomes among patients with untreated, treated, and no HCV history. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective cohort study was conducted at a single institution including data over a 12-year period. Patients were excluded if they had a prior chronic hepatitis B or HIV diagnosis. Non-HCV patients were matched to HCV patients based on age, sex, and race/ethnicity. RESULTS: We identified 66 patients with untreated HCV and 33 patients with treated HCV. 324 non-HCV patients were matched to the HCV cohort. The overall postoperative complication rate was 10.9%. There was no statistically significant difference in postoperative complication rates between groups (p=0.71). There was no significant difference in the level of intervention required to treat these complications based on the Clavien-Dindo classification (p=0.97), postoperative ICU admission (p=0.43), or reoperation rate (p=0.45). CONCLUSION: Despite having a longer average length of stay and increased risk for intraoperative blood product transfusion, both untreated and treated HCV patients have similar rates of postoperative complications and complication severity compared to controls. These findings suggest that HCV patients tolerate cholecystectomy at a comparable level to non-HCV patients. The lack of difference in postoperative complication rates between untreated and treated HCV patients indicates that lack of antiviral treatment should not delay cholecystectomy.