Single Center Experience of Laparoscopic Management of Pediatric Gall Stone Disease

Laparoscopic Management of Pediatric Gall Stones

Abstract

Background: The aim of this retrospective study is to analyze the result of pediatric gall stone disease at a large volume single center. Subjects and Methods:  This is a retrospective study, where patients operated at a single center between august 2007 to august 2020 were evaluated   for presenting clinical features, cause of gall stone disease, surgery performed, intra op & post op complications and outcome at the time of discharge from hospital from clinical case files. Results: Total 253 patients underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy between august 2007 and august 2020. Three patients were converted to open due to complications and were removed from the final analysis. Age distribution was 3 years to 12 years. Pain abdomen was most common feature as a clinical presentation. Hemolytic anemia was documented in only 10 patients. Twenty five patients were obese with BMI > 2SD. Standard 4 port laparoscopic cholecystectomy was done in all the patients. Stone was absent in 32 cases and only sludge was found on gross examination, twenty two cases has single stone & rest had multiple stone. Duration of surgery was 30 minutes to 45 minutes with median of 35 minutes. Two patients out of 250 had CBD injury. All patients were discharged within 7 days of surgery. Conclusion: Gall stone disease is increasingly common in patient presenting with repeated pain abdomen. Hemolytic anemia is not a common cause of pediatric gall stone disease. Laparoscopy is well tolerated in children with very few complications in experienced hands.