Comparison of laparoscopic surgery versus traditional laparotomy for the treatment of emergency patients

OBJECTIVE To investigate the clinical efficacy of laparoscopic gastrointestinal emergency surgery and postoperative complications. METHODS Data for 604 patients undergoing emergency gastrointestinal surgery between January 2013 and December 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. Treatment efficacy and postoperative complications were compared between 300 patients (control group) undergoing traditional laparotomy and 304 patients (observation group) undergoing laparoscopic surgery. RESULTS Clinical features were significantly better in the observation group than in the control group, including duration of surgery (59.12 ± 10.31 minutes vs. 70.34 ± 12.83 minutes), intraoperative blood loss (41.21 ± 10.45 mL vs. 61.38 ± 9.97 mL), postoperative pain score (1.25 ± 0.25 points. vs. 5.13 ± 0.43 points), length of hospital stay (5.13 ± 0.24 days vs. 7.05 ± 0.13 days), and time to free activity (13 ± 2.96 hours vs. 22 ± 3.02 hours). The total complication incidence in the observation group was 3.9%, compared with 16% in the control group (16%). No significant differences in direct medical costs were recorded between the observation and control groups. CONCLUSIONS For patients undergoing emergency gastrointestinal surgery, laparoscopic surgery resulted in better clinical outcomes than traditional laparotomy without incurring additional costs. The potential clinical benefits of emergency laparoscopic gastrointestinal surgery warrant further study.