European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Background: In adult patients undergoing four-port elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy at a tertiary care hospital, the purpose of this study is to determine whether or not the removal of the gall bladder (GB) through the umbilical port is associated with more pain at the port site when compared to the removal of the GB through the epigastric port.
Materials and Methods: Patients over the age of 18 who were scheduled to undergo elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy at our facility in 2021 and who were randomly assigned to either group 1 or group 2 were evaluated for the purpose of this study. A VAS was used to evaluate the patient's level of pain at 1, 6, 12, 24, and 36 hours following surgery by a registered nurse.
Results: At 1, 6, 12, 24, and 36 hours following surgery, the VAS for pain measured at the umbilical port was lower than the VAS for pain measured at the epigastric port, and this difference was statistically significant (p-value 0.001). After correcting for age, sex, duration of surgery, and supplementary analgesic use, multiple linear regressions were done for port site pain after 24 hours. The results showed that the VAS at the umbilical port was lower than the epigastric port, with a difference in VAS of 0.9.
Conclusion: When patients are undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy, retrieving the gall bladder through the umbilical port is related with less pain at the port site than retrieving the gall bladder through the epigastric port. For the removal of the gall bladder, we recommend using the umbilical port.