Introduction: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to compare clinical outcomes in patients with complicated acute cholecystitis undergoing laparoscopic total vs subtotal cholecystectomy.
Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines and queried PubMed, Embase, ProQuest, Google Scholar, and Cochrane databases from inception to May 2023. The primary outcome was complication rates including common bile duct injury, wound infection, reoperation, bile leak, retained stones, and subhepatic collection, whereas secondary outcomes were in-hospital mortality and hospital length of stay.
Results: A total of 7 studies with 135,233 cases were included for meta-analysis. Patients who underwent laparoscopic total cholecystectomy had a significantly lower risk of postoperative bile leaks (RR: .15; 95% CI: .03, .80) and subhepatic fluid collection (RR: 0.19; 95% CI: .06, .63) and were 2.94 times less likely to die compared to those who underwent subtotal cholecystectomy (RR .34; 95% CI: .15, .77). Patients who underwent subtotal cholecystectomy had significantly longer hospital length of stay (mean difference 1.0 days; 95% CI: .5 days, 1.4 days).
Conclusions: In adult patients presenting with complicated cholecystitis, management with laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy presents a unique complication profile with increased risk of postoperative bile leak and subhepatic fluid collection, in-hospital mortality, and longer hospital length-of-stay when used as an alternative approach to laparoscopic total cholecystectomy. Further research into the most appropriate clinical scenarios and patient populations for the use of the subtotal cholecystectomy approach may prove useful in improving its associated outcomes.
Keywords: clinical outcomes; complicated cholecystitis; laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy; laparoscopic total cholecystectomy.