Role of a modified epigastric port in reducing post operative pain and causing early ambulation in a patient undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy as compared to a standard four port procedure, a randomized controlled study

Abstract

Background: Standard four port laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the gold standard in the treatment of gall stones. Modified epigastric port laparoscopic cholecystectomy may be considered an alternative, as this procedure maintains the advantages of four ports and does not require any special set of instruments. In this study we aimed to see whether this procedure is comparable to the standard four port laparoscopic cholecystectomy based on the primary objectives of postoperative pain score, degree of ambulation, time to return to normal activities.Methods: Consecutive patients due to undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomy, meeting all the predefined criteria were recruited into the study. The group A was assigned to receive intervention in the form of modified epigastric port laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The group B was assigned to receive intervention in the form of standard four port laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Patients in group A were compared with patients in group B based on multiple pre-defined parameters.Results: Pain scores were significantly better in group A. Degree of ambulation at was significantly better in group A. In respect to the time to resumption of normal activities there was no significant difference between the two groups. When comparing the quality life at 1 month following surgery with SF-36 health survey, the patients in group A did better than patients in group B with respect to the six scales. Conclusions: Modified epigastric port laparoscopic cholecystectomy appears to be significantly better than the standard four port cholecystectomy in terms of postoperative recovery.