Effectiveness of the use of drains in post laparoscopic cholecystectomies

Objective: to determine the efficacy of the drain in reducing post -operative sub hepatic collection of bile or blood in routine laparoscopic cholecystectomy. material and methods: this study was conducted in surgical department of khyber teaching hospital,peshawar from november 2013 to may 2014. a total of 150 patients were included using the consecutive (non-probability) sampling method. all patients both male and female with diagnosed and symptomatic gallstones were subjected to laparoscopic cholecystectomy,drain was placed and patients were followed up to 2 weeks. results: gallstones are more common in females (65% vs 35%). it is also more common in the 40s age group. drainage was found to be ineffective in (138/150) 92% of the patients. the visual analog scale (vas) on 1st post op day was 3-9 (mean=6),length of hospital stay was 3-5 days (mean=4 days),total drainage volume was 30-150ml (mean= 90ml). 10/150(6.6%) developed wound site infection. conclusion: routine use of drains is not recommended since they do not offer any benefit over non drainage. proper guidelines are needed for drain insertion when they are inevitable. © 2016,khyber medical college. all rights reserved.