A 4-day admission clinical pathway for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Abstract

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of a 4-day admission clinical pathway (CP) for laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC), comparing with a 7-day admission CP. Patients and Methods : We compared 42 patients who had undergone LC by the 7-day admission CP (Group A ; from January 2002 to June 2004), with 55 patients by the 4-day admission CP (Group B, from July 2004 to May 2006). Results : Incidence of variance was almost the same in both groups (Group A vs Group B=19.0% vs 21.8% without significant difference). There was no rehospitalization within 30-days after discharge in both groups. Total hospital fee, and hospital fee per day in Group A versus Group B were 575,507 vs. 491,003 yens and 95,603 vs. 157,466 yens, respectively (p<0.05). Conclusions : The 4-day admission CP was comparable with the 7-day admission CP in terms of the incidence of variance and re-hospitalization episode. The 4-day admission CP for LC is safe even though it shortens the duration of hospital stay and is useful from a medical cost-performance aspect.