Is nighttime the right time? Risk of complications after laparoscopic cholecystectomy at night.

Background: Laparoscopic cholecystectomies can be performed at night in high-volume acute care hospitals. We hypothesized that nonelective nighttime laparoscopic cholecystectomies are associated with increased postoperative complications.

Study Design: We conducted a single-center retrospective review of consecutive laparoscopic cholecystectomy patients between October 2010 and May 2011 at a safety-net hospital in Houston, Texas.