Contact laser or conventional cholecystectomy: a controlled trial.

There have been claims that the use of lasers in surgery is associated with reduced operative blood loss, trauma, postoperative pain and improved postoperative mobility. With the development of sapphire probes capable of transmitting neodymium yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd: YAG) laser light, it is now feasible to perform direct-contact low-power laser surgery. In a small randomized controlled trial, we have compared cholecystectomy performed by conventional methods (n = 11) with the same operation performed by contact laser (n = 10). Operative time, blood loss, operative stability, analgesic requirement, mobility and response to the trauma of surgery were compared. The only differences between the two groups were a significantly increased wound infection rate (P = 0.051) in the laser surgery group and a significantly increased length of operating time (P = 0.001). Thus, the laser did not confer any advantage over conventional surgery.