2000 Volume 20 Issue 10 Pages 629-634
We began laparoscopic cholecystectomy as a short-stay operation at our hospital in the hope of performing it under an ambulatory setting.
Preoperative examinations were performed and explanations given a few days or weeks before admission. The patients were admitted on the day of surgery or on the day before surgery. No premedication was given and urethral catheterization was not performed.
General tracheal intubation was performed using propofol and vecuronium. Anesthesia was maintained by propofol infusion and epidural focal anesthetics infusion. 4 hours after surgery, patients were demanded to go to the rest room on foot. After the surgery, NSAIDs were given for pain relief on request.
There were no problem in the operating room regarding any of the 30 patients. 94% of patients were able to void and 80% of them could walk within 6 hours after the surgery. Pain and nausea were experienced in females more than males.
The results show that ambulatory laparoscopic cholecystectomy will be possible. However proper selection of the patients and a full explanation are very important.
