A prospective study comparing routine subhepatic drain vs no drain in patients undergoing simple elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Abstract

Background: Cholelithiasis is one of the major causes of morbidity with prevalence rate of 10-20%. Cholecystectomy is the mainstay of treatment of gall stone disease. Open cholecystectomy was the traditional method of treatment. It has now largely been replaced by laparoscopic cholecystectomy. To put a subhepatic drain in laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients routinely is a big question. Our aim is to find out whether routine use of drains in all patients undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy to be recommended.Methods: A prospective study of 100 cases was carried out in department of surgery in Heritage Institute of Medical Sciences, Varanasi between January 2020 to august 2021 with the aim of making comparisons between drained & non drained laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients. The patients were randomly assigned into two groups. Group A consists of patients with subhepatic drain and in group B no drains were kept.Results: Patients with subhepatic drains have similar pain as compared to non-drain group in immediate post-operative period but had more pain, discomfort, longer hospital stay and required slightly long time for complete wound healing especially of drain port wound and full recovery.Conclusion: Routine subhepatic drain after every case of laparoscopic cholecystectomy is not necessary especially in clear, uncomplicated cases.