Abstract: Objective:To investigate the efficacy of surgical treatment for hepatolithiasis in patients of advanced age.
Methods:The clinical data of 196 patients of advanced age (≥80 years) and with hepatolithiasis who were admitted to the Kailuan General Hospital from January 2009 to October 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. All the 196 patients received surgical treatment. Patients were followed up via phone call or outpatient examination till May 2013.
Results:Fiftyeight patients received emergent operation within 24 hours after admission, and the other 138 patients received operation 7.4 days (range, 1.0-18.0 days) after admission. Fifty patients received laparoscopic surgery, including 43 received cholecystectomy+choledocholithotomy+T tube drainage, 7 received choledocholithotomy+T tube drainage. One hundred and fortysix patients received open surgery, including 78 received cholecystectomy+choledocholithotomy+T tube drainage, 43 received choledocholithotomy+T tube drainage and 25 received choledocholithotomy+T tube drainage+partial hepatectomy. The operation time was (78±16)minutes, and the volume of intraoperative bleeding ranged between 15 mL and 300 mL. One hundred and ninetyfour patients were cured and 2 patients died. Thirtyseven patients had complications after operation, with the morbidity of 18.88%(37/196). A total of 163 patients were followed up, with the followup rate of 83.16%(163/196). The median time of followup was 26 months (range, 7-52 months). Twelve patients had hepatolithiasis recurrence, and the recurrence rate was 7.36%(12/163).
Conclusion:Surgical treatment for hepatolithiasis in patients of advanced age has the advantages of high cure rate, low incidence of complications and recurrence, and the clinical efficacy is satisfactory.