Single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy and overweight patients.

Background: Modifications of minimally invasive laparoscopic cholecystectomy have been achieved, including single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SILC). In the current literature, the effects of high body mass index (BMI) on the results of the surgical therapy have not been sufficiently investigated after SILC. We evaluated perioperative outcomes and postoperative complications of overweight patients who underwent SILC.

Methods: Two hundred two patients who underwent SILC were retrospectively evaluated. The data included demographics and outcomes such as postoperative complications and postoperative hospitalization were obtained. For the outcome analyses, patients were divided into two group according to their BMI (<30 vs ≥ 30 kg/m(2)).

Results: Of the 202 patients, 157 patients were in normal weight group and 45 patients were in overweight group. Mean operative time was 31.67 ± 6.4 min in overweight group and 26.6 ± 5.3 min in normal weight group. The wound infection rate for overweight and normal weight patients was 13.3 and 7.6 %, respectively. Eleven of the 202 patients (5.4 %) experienced port-site hernia (PSH).

Conclusions: This retrospective study comparing overweight and normal weight patient in SILC demonstrates that SILC is associated with the prolonged operative time, high additional port requirement, and increased wound complication rate. PSH occurrence rate was high after SILC irrespective of the body weight.