Safety of outpatient laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the elderly: analysis of 15,248 patients using the NSQIP database.

Background: Studies have shown that laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in an ambulatory setting is a safe alternative to the traditional overnight hospital stay. However, there are limited data on the morbidity and mortality of outpatient LC in elderly patients. We evaluated the safety of ambulatory LC in the elderly and identified risk factors that predict inpatient admission.