Negotiating the Curve of Laparoscopic Hepatopancreaticobiliary Procedures (Basic to Advanced) at a Tertiary Rural Teaching Institute

BACKGROUND: We present here our experience of laparoscopic hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) surgeries at our rural institute and the hurdles we faced overcoming the various challenges. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to assess the feasibility, successful completion, operative time, conversions/requirement of assistance, duration of hospital stay, and postoperative complications on the HPB procedures performed laparoscopically in our surgical unit; and to help young surgeons for smooth navigation through their laparoscopic career. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All the patients admitted under our unit over the past 9 years for elective HPB surgeries operated by a single surgeon were included in this study. RESULTS: Total 1304 basic laparoscopic biliary procedures were successfully completed laparoscopically. After getting well versed with the standard procedure, we switched over to difficult cases involving densely adhered gallbladder, frozen Calot's, Mirizzi's syndrome, use of intraoperative cholangiogram, and take down of cholecystoduodenal fistulas. Next step in evolution was doing laparoscopic common bile duct exploration and biliary procedures with decreased number of ports. Five hundred and sixty-eight procedures were advanced HPB surgeries. With time, we also started performing a variety of complex advanced laparoscopic procedures such as cystogastrostomy, hepaticojejunostomy, choledochoduodenostomy, and pancreaticojejunostomy. All these procedures have been discussed with respect to operative duration, conversion rates, blood loss, hospital stay, and complication rates in the initial and later parts of the learning curves and further compared with previous standard large case studies on specific surgeries. CONCLUSION: Several hurdles are met in a new institute, that too, a rural one. The present discussion will help the budding surgeons to identify their deficiencies and chart a way forward in a systematic scientific manner.