Evaluation of DGR in open and laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Full text: Cholelithiasis is a common problem and surgery is the treatment of choice for symptomatic patients. However, many patients remain symptomatic postoperatively (12 - 68%). Most of the symptoms are related to physiological changes in upper gastrointestinal tract and duodeno-gastric reflux (DGR) is one of the commonest cause for these changes. Hence the diagnosis of DGR in such cases is important. In the present study, we have compared the incidence of DGR between laproscopic and open cholecystectomy for cholelithiasis. A total of 50 patients (43 females and 7 males; mean age 39.36 y) underwent dynamic hepatobiliary scintigraphy pre and post cholecystectomy after intravenous administration of 99mTc-Mebrofenin. Postoperative DGR was observed in 12 patients (24%) as compared to preoperative DGR in 5 patients (10%). Of 12 postoperative patients, 10 were de novo and 2 were preoperative. The incidence of postoperative DGR was 28.5% (4/14) in open surgery, whereas 22.2% (8/36) in laproscopic patients. In conclusion, there is no significant difference in the incidence of DGR between open and laproscopic surgery