A retrospective study to investigate the effect of pressurized incision dressing on the occurrence of incisional infection after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

BACKGROUND

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) has been established as the gold standard for gallstone treatment due to its minimal invasiveness and rapid recovery. Despite the low incidence of complications after LC, postoperative incisional infections have received widespread attention from surgeons. This study aimed to evaluate whether pressurized incision dressing could reduce the occurrence of incisional infections.

METHODS

This study retrospectively analyzed 396 patients diagnosed with gallbladder stones who underwent LC at our institution between January 2022 and December 2023. Patients were divided into standard dressing group A (n=200) and pressurized dressing group B (n=196) based on different postoperative incisional treatments. Clinical outcomes were compared between the two groups. Additionally, subset analyses were conducted on patients with BMI ≥30 kg/m and acute cholecystitis (AC) to further evaluate the differences in clinical outcomes with or without pressurized incision dressing.

RESULTS

The incisional infection rate was 8.0 % (16/200) in the standard dressing group A and 6.1 % (12/196) in the pressurized dressing group B, with no significant difference. Among patients with BMI ≥30 kg/m, no significant difference in incisional infection rate was observed between standard dressing group A and pressurized dressing group B (=0.52). However, in patients with AC, pressurized incision dressing significantly reduced the incisional infection rate (23.7 % in the standard dressing group A vs. 9.8 % in the pressurized dressing group B, =0.04).

CONCLUSIONS

Pressurized incision dressing can reduce the incidence of incisional infection after LC in patients with AC.