Benefi t of Single-Incision Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy —A Comparison to the 4-Port Method—

Objective: We performed a comparative analysis of single-incision laparoscopic cholecystectomy (SILC) and 4-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) to clarify the usefulness of SILC in treating cholecystopathy. Subjects and Methods: Subjects were 77 patients who underwent LC prior to the introduction of SILC at our hospital and 182 patients who subsequently underwent SILC. We obtained patient data retrospectively and compared operation time, bleeding volume, length of postoperative hospital stay, and postoperative use of analgesic drugs between the 2 groups. Results: There was no signifi cant difference between the SILC group and the LC group in terms of operation time, bleeding volume, or complications. However, postoperative stay averaged 6.44 days in the SILC group vs. 7.9 days in the LC group, and postoperative analgesic use averaged 1.32 times in the SILC group vs. 1.72 times in the LC group, and these differences were statistically signifi cant. Conclusion: At our institution, SILC and LC provided equivalent surgical outcomes,however and SILC proved to be less invasive as evaluated by the duration of postoperative hospital stay and the use of analgesics. These fi ndings confi rm the usefulness and increased benefi t of SILC.