Abstract
Background
Recent literature suggests that early laparoscopic cholecystectomy for acute gallbladder disease is safe and efficacious, but few data are available on the management of acute gallbladder disease in England.
Methods
Hospital Episode Statistics data for the years 2003โ2005 were obtained from the Department of Health. All patients admitted as an emergency with acute gallbladder disease during the period from April 2003 to March 2004 were included as a cohort. Repeat emergency admissions for acute gallbladder disease, and cholecystectomies performed during the first admission, an emergency readmission or an elective admission were followed up until March 2005.
Results
Some 25 743 patients were admitted as an emergency with acute gallbladder disease, of whom 3791 had an emergency cholecystectomy during the first admission (open cholecystectomy (OC) 29ยท8 per cent, laparoscopic conversion rate (LCR) 10ยท7 per cent) and 9806 patients had an elective cholecystectomy (OC 11ยท3 per cent, LCR 8ยท3 per cent) during the study period.
Conclusion
Early cholecystectomy for acute gallbladder disease is not widely practised by surgeons in England. Open cholecystectomy is more commonly used in the emergency than in the elective setting. Early laparoscopic cholecystectomy following an emergency admission carries a higher conversion rate than elective cholecystectomy.