Background: Currently, there is no consensus on patient selection for ambulatory laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). This study is a systematic review of previously published patient selection for ambulatory LC.
Methods: A comprehensive search was done in PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and Google Scholar Database up to March 2020 to summarise previously reported medical or surgical selection criteria used for inclusion and exclusion of patients, as well as successful same-day discharge rates and readmission rate after discharge.
Results: Fifty-nine studies with a total of 13,219 patients were included in this systematic review. In total, the median same-day discharge rate was 90% (range: 63%-99.4%), and median readmission rate was 2.22% (range: 0%-16.9%). The most considered medical criteria were American Society of Anesthesiologists classification I and II, age <70, and body mass index <35. Surgical criteria varied greatly. The top three accessible exclusion variables were (1) common bile duct stones, cholangitis, or jaundice (27 publications, 45.8%); (2) history of abdominal surgery (12 publications, 20.3%) and (3) history of pancreatitis (9 publications, 15.3%).
Conclusion: The results of the current study showed the variable patient selection in different centres, the medical aspect criteria may be expanded under adequate pre-anaesthetic assessment and preparation and the surgical aspect criteria should include more laboratory or imaging parameters to ensure the surgical safety.
Keywords: Ambulatory surgical procedures; laparoscopic cholecystectomy; systematic review.