Introduction: The recent introduction of a Surgical Safety Checklist has significantly reduced the morbidity and mortality of surgery. Such a simple measure that can impact so highly on surgical outcomes causes all surgeons to pause for thought. This paper documents the introduction of a 10-step intraoperative surgical checklist (ISC) to standardize performance, decision-making, and training during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). The checklist's impact on conversion rates to open cholecystectomy (OC) is presented.
Methods: In 2004, a 10-step ISC was introduced by a single consultant surgeon for the performance of LCs. Data were collected comparing LCs between 1999-2003 (period 1) and 2004-2008 (period 2). Data on sex, age, American Society of Anesthesiology grade, previous abdominal surgery, severity of gallbladder pathology, and conversion to OC were recorded. The chi-squared test with Yates correction was used to compare groups.
Results: In total, 637 LCs were performed, 277 during period 1 and 360 during period 2. Risk factors for conversion (gender, age, previous abdominal surgery, and severity of gallbladder pathology) were not significantly different in the two periods studied. The overall conversion rate to OC fell significantly in period 2 (p=0.001). Subgroup analysis also showed a significant reduction in conversion rates in female patients (p=0.002) and patients with grades III and IV gallbladder disease (p=0.001).
Conclusions: The introduction of a 10-step ISC was temporally related to reduced conversion rates to OC. The standardization of a frequently performed operation such as a LC that could potentially lead to an impact as great the one we observed warrants further attention in prospective, appropriately designed studies.