Surgical outcome of percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage in acute cholecystitis: Ten years' experience at a tertiary care centre

An Analysis of Outcomes and Management Strategies for Patients With Cholecystostomy Tubes

BACKGROUND

Percutaneous cholecystostomy tube (PCT) drainage is an effective management strategy for acute cholecystitis in patients medically unfit for surgery. However, little is known about the fate of patients managed by PCT. We conducted this study to determine tube management outcomes for patients with acute cholecystitis managed by PCT.

METHODS

The electronic record was queried to identify patients with acute cholecystitis managed by PCT from 2012-2020. Patients were divided into three groups for analysis: 1) ultimately managed by cholecystectomy, 2) eventual confirmation of distal flow of bile from the gallbladder and tube removal, and 3) tubes left in place without further management.

RESULTS

A total of 179 patients with acute cholecystitis treated by PCT were included. Sixty-six patients never fully recovered from the medical insult associated with their diagnosis of acute cholecystitis and had their tubes left in situ. Sixty-four of these 66 patients (97%) died during follow-up. The remaining 113 patients recovered from their illness and presented to clinic for evaluation for tube removal and/or cholecystectomy. When distal biliary flow was confirmed, tube removal was favored (n = 70). When cystic duct outflow occlusion persisted, cholecystectomy was planned for patients who became acceptable surgical candidates (n = 43). For patients managed by cholecystectomy, 8 were approached open and 35 laparoscopically, with 12 of 35 (34.3%) converted to open and 23 (65.7%) completed laparoscopically.

CONCLUSION

Our study favors PCT removal for patients who recover from their acute illness when distal bile flow from the gallbladder is confirmed. We reserve cholecystectomy for patients who recover from their illness and demonstrate persistent cystic duct outflow obstruction.

Ultrasound-guided percutaneous cholecystostomy as bridging or definitive treatment in patients with acute cholecystitis grade II or III

Background

We aimed to investigate the extent to which ultrasound (US)-guided percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) is used as a bridging or definitive therapy for grade II and III acute cholecystitis and whether this treatment causes significant changes in C-reactive protein (CRP) and direct bilirubin (DB) levels in the first 72 h and the first three weeks.

Methods

We included 145 consecutive patients who underwent PC over 17 years. No patient had cirrhosis. PC was performed in the interventional radiology department under US guidance.

Results

US-guided PC was the definitive treatment for more than half of the patients (51.7%) and decreased DB levels significantly more than CRP levels.

Conclusion

No statistically significant correlation between those whose CRP and DB levels normalized within three weeks and those who did not and required a second invasive procedure. Nevertheless, the bridging treatment group was significantly older than the definitive treatment group.

Impact of percutaneous cholecystostomy in the management of acute cholecystitis: a retrospective cohort study at a tertiary center

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the gold standard for the treatment of acute cholecystitis (AC). Percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) for management of AC is increasing; safe and less invasive than laparoscopic cholecystectomy and is very useful in selected patients with severe comorbidities, not suitable for surgery/general anesthesia. We conducted a retrospective observational study between 2016 and 2021 of patients treated with PC for AC, based on the application of the Tokyo guidelines 13/18. The aim was to analyse the clinical results and management of PC in patients undergoing elective or emergency cholecystectomy. Subsequently, a retrospective analytical study was designed to compare various cohorts: elective or emergency surgery and management with PC alone; patients with/without a high surgical risk; and elective vs emergency surgery. Hundred and ninety five patients with AC were treated with PC. Mean age was 74 years, 59.5% were ASA class III/IV, and the mean Charlson comorbidity index was 5.5. Adherence to Tokyo guidelines regarding indication of PC was 50.8%. The rate of complications associated to PC was 12.3% and the 90-day mortality rate was 14.4%. Mean length of time using PC was 10.7 days. Emergency surgery was performed in 4.6%. The overall success rate using PC was 66.7%, and the 1-year readmission rate due to biliary complications after PC was 28.2%. The rate of scheduled cholecystectomy after PC was 22.6%. Conversion to laparotomy and open approach was more frequent in patients who underwent emergency surgery (p = 0.009). No differences were found in 90-day mortality or in the complication rate. PC achieves improvements in the inflammation and infection associated with AC. In our series, it proved to be an effective and safe treatment during the acute episode of AC. Mortality in patients treated with PC is high due to their older age, greater morbidity, and higher Charlson comorbidity index scores. After PC, emergency surgery is uncommon but readmission due to biliary events is high. Cholecystectomy after PC is the definitive treatment and the laparoscopic approach is feasible. Clinical trial registery: The study was registered in the public accessible database clinicaltrials.gov with the ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05153031. Public release date: 12/09/2021.

Optimal timing of percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage and subsequent laparoscopic cholecystectomy according to the severity of acute cholecystitis

Backgrounds/Aims

The optimal timing of percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage (PTGBD) and subsequent laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) according to the severity of acute cholecystitis (AC) has not been established yet.

Methods

This single-center, retrospective study included 695 patients with grade I or II AC without common bile duct stones who underwent PTGBD and subsequent LC between January 2010 and December 2019. Difficult surgery (DS) (open conversion, subtotal cholecystectomy, adjacent organ injury, transfusion, operation time ≥ 90 minutes, or estimated blood loss ≥ 100 mL) and poor postoperative outcome (PPO) (postoperative hospital stay ≥ 7 days or Clavien-Dindo grade ≥ II postoperative complication) were defined to comprehensively evaluate intraoperative and postoperative outcomes, respectively.

Results

Of 695 patients, 403 had grade I AC and 292 had grade II AC. According to the receiver operating characteristic curve and multivariate logistic regression analyses, an interval from symptom onset to PTGBD of > 3.5 days and an interval from PTGBD to LC of > 7.5 days were significant predictors of DS and PPO, respectively, in grade I AC. In grade II AC, the timing of PTGBD and subsequent LC were not statistically related to DS or PPO.

Conclusions

In grade I AC, performing PTGBD within 3.5 days after symptom onset can reduce surgical difficulties and subsequently performing LC within 7.5 days after PTGBD can improve postoperative outcomes. In grade II AC, early PTGBD cannot improve the surgical difficulty. In addition, the timing of subsequent LC is not correlated with surgical difficulties or postoperative outcomes.