Evaluation of Liver Function Tests and Serum Bilirubin Levels After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

INTRODUCTION: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has been known as one of the most important prevalent and minimally invasive surgeries in medicine. AIM: The aim here was to investigate the changes in liver enzymes and bilirubin levels after laparoscopic cholecystectomy in patients diagnosed with chronic cholecystitis. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Poursina Hospital (Rasht, Iran) and 128 patients who met both inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled for further investigations. After collecting the patients’ bio-demographic information, levels of serum alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and bilirubin were checked before laparoscopic cholecystectomy and 24 (post-op 1) and 48 (post-op 2) h after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. RESULTS: No significant difference was found in the serum levels of ALP in post-op 1 and 2 compared both to each other and to the baseline (P>0.05). Regarding AST and ALT, there was a significant increase in post-op 1 and 2 compared to their baseline values (P<0.05). However, the difference between post-op 1 and post-op 2 was not significant for these outcomes. Compared to baseline levels, LDH had a significant increase after post-op 2 (P=0.001); but not after post-op 1 (P >0.05). Moreover, total bilirubin levels showed significant increases at post-op 1 and post-op 2 from the baseline and also in comparison with each other (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated a transient increase in liver function tests and bilirubin after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.