Clinical and surgical characteristics of patients diagnosed with acute cholecystitis undergoing cholecystectomy at Clínica Internacional Sede San Borja in 2019-2020

Abstract

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic posed a challenge to the healthcare system; while efforts were made to prioritize hospital care for patients with COVID-19 infection, changes occurred in surgical practice. A decrease in laparoscopic surgery, both elective and emergency, including cholecystectomy, was evident. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical and surgical characteristics of patients with acute cholecystitis, admitted for emergency cholecystectomy in a private clinic. Materials and Methods: A retrospective, descriptive study was conducted, reviewing the medical records of patients admitted through emergency in the last 5 months of the year 2019 (August to December) and the subsequent 5 months following the WHO declaration of the pandemic (March to July) in 2020. Results: Out of the 50 patients who ultimately had all the required data, in the 2019 group, 56% were female with an average age of 42 years; whereas, in the 2020 group, 64% were female with an average age of 44 years. The average operative time for the laparoscopic approach was 57.2 minutes in 2019 and 71 minutes in 2020. On the other hand, the operative time for the conventional technique was 88 minutes. Conclusion: During the pandemic, acute cholecystitis continued to be a surgical emergency requiring hospital admission in our clinic, where increased operative and hospital stay times were observed with the conventional technique.