Background : Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is a minimally invasive surgery used to remove the diseased gallbladder. Since the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy was reported in 1985, it has become the standard treatment for gallbladder disease. And, cholecystectomy ranked fifth among all surgeries performed in Korea in 2021. Although it is such a widely performed surgery, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is performed in a variety of ways by individual surgeons. Herein, this study investigated the current status of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in Korea.

Methods : An online questionnaire was completed by members of the Korean Association of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery (KAHBPS) for 4 weeks beginning on August 2023. The questionnaire, which was written in Korean. Total responses were collected from 159 surgeons.

Results : Most respondents were working at community hospital(61%). The most common age range of respondents was 40s(47.8%). Most surgeons worked at institutions capable of performing percutaneous transhepatic gallbladder drainage(PTGBD)(90.6%). For patients with grade II cholecystitis taking anticoagulants, the timing of surgery varied widely. When elective cholecystectomy was performed, the timing of discontinuation of anticoagulants also varied widely. Most surgeons performed cholecystectomy after removal of biliary stones through endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography(ERCP) for patients with cholecystitis accompanied by CBD stones.(93%).

Conclusions : Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the one of the most common surgery for digestive tract disease. As observed in this survey, laparoscopic cholecystectomy was being performed using a wide variety of methods and policies. For standardization, more advanced and systematic studies are needed.