Transumbilical laparoscopic cholecystectomy assisted with a second port.
Experience in 60 patientsBackground: Transumbilical laparoscopic surgery offers substantial esthetic benefi ts. The use of a second port to introduce a second trocar, reduces the need of special or articulated instruments. Aim: To report the experience with transumbilical cholecystectomy, assisted using a second port, to reduce technical complexity. Patients and Methods: The surgical technique was prospectively evaluated in 60 patients aged 18 to 77 years (39 women), that required a cholecystectomy. All had a surgical risk classifi ed according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) as I or II. Patients with gallbladder cancer, choledocholithiasis, were excluded. Two trocar (10 and 5 mm) were introduced by transumbilical incision and other one 5 mm trocar was introduced in the right iliac fossa for 0° frontal optics. Results: The mean operative time was 72 minutes (range 35-165). Fifty seven patients had a 24 h hospital stay. Two patients had to be converted to open surgery due to a complex pedicle dissection and one patient required an additional trocar. There were three complications. An umbilical seroma, a bile leakage through a Luschka duct, that was managed conservatively and one bile tract stenosis, that appeared four months after the operation and required surgical repair. Conclusions: Transumbilical cholecystectomy using a second additional port was a successful procedure, with similar esthetic results as single port surgery, but less costly.