Is It Safe to Perform Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy and Transabdominal Preperitoneal Hernia Repair Simultaneously?

Abstract Background/Aims: Cholecystectomy and inguinal hernia repair are the most common operations in general surgery. With the laparoscopic approach, the risk of postoperative pain and infection is lower, patients can return to their daily activities in a shorter time, and the cosmetic appearance is better. However, surgical procedures in which laparoscopic cholecystectomy and transabdominal preperitoneal hernia repair (TAPP) are performed simultaneously are limited. The safety of this procedure is questioned in this article. Methods: The records of 38 patients who had undergone simultaneous laparoscopic cholecystectomy and TAPP were retrospectively reviewed, and patient demographic characteristics, indications for surgery, parameters associated with surgery, and postoperative complications were elicited. Results: The mean age of the patients was 48 ± 6.7 years, the youngest patient was 32 years old, and the oldest patient was 68 years old. The average operation time of the patients was 124 ± 26 minutes, and the average postoperative hospital stay was 2.1 ± 0.4 days. As for intraoperative complications, bleeding due to a double cystic artery in one patient, and perforation of the gallbladder in one patient were observed. In the postoperative period, one patient was found to have a seroma in the hernia area (in the patient with gallbladder perforation), and one patient had a recurrence in the hernia area in the late phase. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that laparoscopic cholecystectomy and TAPP surgery could be safely performed simultaneously. The results of our study also include that prioritizing cholecystectomy does not increase the mesh infection rate