A Prospective Cohort Analysis of the Prevalence and Predictive Factors of Delayed Discharge After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy in Italy: The DeDiLaCo Study

Background: the concept of early discharge ≤24 hours after laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is still doubted in italy. this prospective multicentre study aims to analyze the prevalence of patients undergoing elective LC who experienced a delayed discharge >24 hours in an extensive Italian national database and identify potential limiting factors of early discharge after LC. methods: this is a prospective observational multicentre study performed from january 1, 2021 to december 31, 2021 by 90 Italian surgical units. results: a total of 4664 patients were included in the study. clinical reasons were found only for 850 patients (37.7%) discharged >24 hours after LC. after excluding patients with nonclinical reasons for delayed discharge >24 hours, 2 groups based on the length of hospitalization were created: the early group (≤24 h; 2414 patients, 73.9%) and the delayed group (>24 h; 850 patients, 26.1%). at the multivariate analysis, ASA III class (P<0.0001), charlson's comorbidity index (P=0.001), history of choledocholithiasis (P=0.03), presence of peritoneal adhesions (P<0.0001), operative time >60 min (P<0.0001), drain placement (P<0.0001), pain (P=0.001), postoperative vomiting (P=0.001) and complications (P<0.0001) were independent predictors of delayed discharge >24 hours. conclusions: the majority of delayed discharges >24 hours after LC in our study were unrelated to the surgery itself. ASA class >II, advanced comorbidity, the presence of peritoneal adhesions, prolonged operative time, and placement of abdominal drainage were intraoperative variables independently associated with failure of early discharge.