Novel approach of laparoscopic and endoscopic cooperative surgery (LECS) for cholecystectomy

Background: Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) techniques, such as generating an artificial space between digestive tract layers for safer dissection, were thought to be safer for the resection of organs in cholecystectomy. We investigated whether combinations of endoscopic techniques and laparoscopic techniques could be performed more safely and rapidly.

Material and methods: Laparoscopic and endoscopic cooperative-cholecystectomy (LEC-chole) and conventional laparoscopic cholecystectomy (Lapa-chole) were performed in six dogs. Operation time was defined as the time from the creation of the first port to the retrieval of the resected gallbladder (GB); and GB bed dissection time was the time from local injection of natural saline to the clipping of the cystic duct. The main roles of the endoscope in LEC-chole were to obtain a sufficient cutting space via local injection of natural saline to the GB bed and to monitor the operative view without laparoscopic camera, thus omitting the umbilical port.

Results: The operation times were 60 ± 18.3 minutes for LEC-chole and 95 ± 7.0 for Lapa-chole (p = .036). The GB bed dissection times were 31 ± 8.54 minutes in LEC-chole and 50.6 ± 7.37 minutes in Lapa-chole (p = 0.048). There were significant differences in liver damage and bleeding (p = 0.116), but there were no significant differences in one-month survival.

Conclusions: The application of LEC-chole may be expanded to cholecystectomy.