Cholecystectomy in sickle cell disease patients: Is there more acute chest syndrome after laparoscopy? A case controlled study

Laparoscopy is increasingly being recommended in order to reduce postoperative complications among sickle cell disease patients undergoing cholecystectomy. Acute chest syndrome is the most deadly of these complications. The purpose of this study was to assess if laparoscopic approach reduces postoperative complications related to sickle cell disease after cholecystectomy. A retrospective study of records of sickle cell patients who underwent cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis, from January 1990 to December 2005 was conducted. 136 sickle cell patients underwent surgery: 47 (34.5%) by laparoscopy and 89 (63.5%) by laparotomy. The mean operative time was 71.4 ± 18.9 min in the laparoscopy group and 61.2 ± 15.3 min in the laparotomy group (non-significant difference). The mortality was not significantly different between the two groups: one patient died in the open cholecystectomy group but no death occurred in the laparoscopic one. The morbidity related to the sickle cell disease was significantly higher in the laparoscopy group [n = 5 (10.5%)] than in the laparotomy group [n = 4 (4.5%)] (p = 0.04). This difference was associated with a higher rate of acute chest syndrome in the laparoscopy group [n = 4 (8, 5%)] compared to that in the laparotomy group [n = 1 (1.1%)] (p = 0.01). There were more complications related to sickle cell disease in the laparoscopy group due to acute chest syndrome. Thus, these data should be confirmed in further randomized studies which must be undertaken.