Conversion After More Than Two Hours Increases the Risk of Major Complication in Patients with Acute Cholecystitis Approached Laparoscopically

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the length of the laparoscopic time before the decision to convert during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) for acute cholecystitis (AC) has any impact on the patients’ course. Methods: Medical records of 3832 patients undergone LC for AC during the last fifteen years in our unit, were retrospectively analyzed. 71 of these (1.9%) were converted to open. We divided them into two groups: G1 (n=52, 73%) included patients who had conversion within 2 h from the beginning of the operation, and G2 (n=19, 27%) included patients converted after more than 2 h of laparoscopy. We analyzed and compared the following parameters: patients’ general characteristic (age, gender, BMI, ASA score), rate of gangrenous acute cholecystitis, mean operative time, mean length of postoperative stay, morbidity and mortality. Morbidity was graded according to Clavien and Dindo classification. A p value