Is intraoperative cholangiography necessary during laparoscopic cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis?

Table 1 Patient and pre-operative disease characteristics of the study participants randomly assigned to the routine laparoscopic cholecystectomy or laparoscopic cholecystectomy + intraoperative cholangiography treatment groups n (%)

Characteristic	Routine LC group,	LC + IOC group,	P value
	n = 185	n = 186
Age1 (yr)	58.22 ± 8.41	57.43 ± 7.15	0.33
Female sex	97 (52.43)	101 (54.30)	0.72
BMI1,	24.14 ± 1.12	23.96 ± 1.89	0.27
Clinical symptoms
Intermittent abdominal pain	176 (95.14)	179 (96.24)	0.60
Fever	46 (24.86)	49 (26.34)	0.74
Nausea/vomiting	28 (15.14)	31 (16.67)	0.69
Symptom duration1 (d)	3.46 ± 1.82	3.50 ± 2.22	0.48
Gallstone maximum size1 (cm)	1.42 ± 0.23	1.39 ± 0.21	0.19
Multiple gallstones, ≥ 3	46 (24.86)	48 (25.81)	0.84

¹Data are presented as mean ± SD. BMI: body mass index; LC: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy; IOC: Intraoperative cholangiography.

Table 2 Operative characteristics of laparoscopic cholecystectomy and laparoscopic cholecystectomy + intraoperative cholangiography

Characteristic	Routine LC group,	LC + IOC group,	P value
	n = 185	n = 186
Successful LC completion	182	182	0.71
Conversion to open surgery	3	4	0.71
CBD injury	1	1	0.75
Operative time1 (min)	43.00 ± 4.15	52.86 ± 4.47	< 0.01
Hospital stay1 (d)	5.10 ± 1.41	4.99 ± 1.53	0.47

¹Data are presented as mean ± SD. LC: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy; IOC: Intraoperative cholangiography; CBD: Common bile duct.

Table 3 Outcomes and complications of laparoscopic cholecystectomy and laparoscopic cholecystectomy + intraoperative cholangiography

Characteristic	Routine LC group,	LC + IOC group,	P value
	n = 185	n = 186
CBD stone retainment	1	0	0.50
Other complications	2	2	0.64

LC: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy; IOC: Intraoperative cholangiography; CBD: Common bile duct.