Outcome of Laparoscopic cholecystectomy among patients operated at a general hospital in a low-income country, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background Laparoscopic cholecystectomy remains the gold standard and minimally invasive surgery for management of gallbladder disease, offering safe outcome. However, significant disparities exist across low -middle income countries. This study presents surgical outcomes of laparoscopic cholecystectomy performed at a high-volume general hospital with a hepatobiliary surgeon in Ethiopia. Methods The institutional based cross-sectional observational study was carried out at Addis Hiwot General Hospital, Addis Ababa. Based on previously published literature, a structured questionnaire was created for this study with the goal of collecting thorough data. Frequencies and percentages were used to summarize categorical variables, and the χ² test was used to compare groups. The Shapiro-Wilk test was used to evaluate the distribution of continuous variables. Means and standard deviations (SD) were reported for data that was normally distributed; medians and interquartile ranges (IQR) were used for data that was not normally distributed. Results A retrospective analysis of 424 patients who had laparoscopic cholecystectomy revealed that the female-to-male ratio was roughly 5:1, and the mean age was 42·2 years (SD 12·7). Ninety-one percent of cases involved elective procedures. In 62·0% of patients, symptomatic cholelithiasis (biliary colic) was the most common indication, followed by chronic calculous cholecystitis (22·9%). The conversion rate to open cholecystectomy was 3·5% overall. Within 30 days, 2.8% of patients experienced postoperative complications; no deaths were reported. Conclusion Despite significant inequity in access to Laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the procedure remains safe with low morbidity, conversion rate and no mortality. These findings underscore the urgent need for investment in surgical infrastructure and human resource capacity to expand access to safe laparoscopic surgery in low-resource settings.