Presentation and Management Outcomes of Cholecystectomies at a District Hospital in Abuja, North Central Nigeria: A 20-Year Review.

BACKGROUND

Although laparoscopic cholecystectomy has become the gold standard for removing the Gall Bladder (GB) for operable benign diseases, many open cholecystectomies are still performed in developing countries. We present our experiences with all cholecystectomies done in a secondary health care hospital, in north-central Nigeria.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

All patients who had open and laparoscopic cholecystectomies over a 20year period between January 2000 and December 2019 at the general surgery unit of Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria were reviewed with a focus on demography, indications for surgery, type of operation, complications, and outcomes. The diagnosis of benign gall bladder diseases was by findings on patients' presentation, clinical examination, trans-abdominal ultrasound scan, and histological examination of all specimens. All open cholecystectomies were via the Kocher's incision approach while the laparoscopic cholecystectomies were via the 4-port incisions approach.

RESULTS

A total of 120 cholecystectomies comprising 74 open cholecystectomies and 46 laparoscopic cholecystectomies were performed. There were 27(22.5%) males and 93(77.5%) females giving a male to female ratio of 1:3.4. The age range was 19 to 80years and the peak age was in the 41-50years range. The commonest indication for surgery was calculous cholecystitis in 107(89.2%) patients while the commonest post-operative complication was surgical site infection in 4(3.33%) patients. Majority (80%) were cholesterol stones. All the gall bladders were benign and there was no mortality recorded.

CONCLUSION

Open and laparoscopic cholecystectomies are safe in Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja Nigeria and the outcomes are comparable to results from other centres in the region.