Analysis of risk factors for bile duct injury in laparoscopic cholecystectomy in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis

To explore the risk factors of bile duct injury in laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) in China through meta-analysis. METHODS: The study commenced with a search and selection of case–control studies on the risk factors for bile duct injury in LC in China using the following databases: PubMed, EMBASE, ScienceNet.cn, CNKI, Wanfang Data, and VIP. Data were extracted from the collected documents independently by 2 researchers, following which a meta-analysis of these data was performed using Revman 5.3. RESULTS: The compilation of all data from a total of 19 case–control studies revealed that among 41,044 patients, 458 patients experienced bile duct injury in LC, accounting for the incidence rate of 1.12% for bile duct injury. The revealed risk factors for bile duct injury were age (≥40 years) (odds ratio [OR] = 6.23, 95% CI [95% confidence interval]: 3.42–11.33, P < .001), abnormal preoperative liver function (OR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.50–2.70, P < .001), acute and subacute inflammation of gallbladder (OR = 8.35, 95% CI: 5.32–13.10, P < .001; OR = 4.26, 95% CI: 2.73–6.65, P < .001), thickening of gallbladder wall (≥4 mm) (OR = 3.18, 95% CI: 2.34–4.34, P < .001), cholecystolithiasis complicated with effusion (OR = 3.05, 95% CI: 1.39–6.71, P = .006), and the anatomic variations of the gallbladder triangle (OR = 11.82, 95% CI: 6.32–22.09, P < .001). However, the factors of gender and overweight (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m(2)) were not significantly correlated with bile duct injury in LC. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, age (≥40 years), abnormal preoperative liver function, gallbladder wall thickening, acute and subacute inflammation of the gallbladder, cholecystolithiasis complicated with effusion, and anatomic variations of the gallbladder triangle were found to be closely associated with bile duct injury in LC.