Application of the Lean Six Sigma approach to the study of the LOS of patients who undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomy at the San Giovanni di Dio and Ruggi d'Aragona University Hospital

Cholecystectomy can be performed laparoscopically or laparotomically, but in uncomplicated cases, laparoscopic cholecystectomy is considered the standard procedure. In fact, this typology is associated with a significantly shorter hospital stay and convalescence compared to classic open surgery. According to the medical literature, the postoperative hospital stay after laparoscopic cholecystectomy is generally between 3 and 5 days. The "Post-operative hospitalization within 3 days" is therefore a correct indicator to verify the good performance of the structures. Using the clinical and demographic data of two groups of patients in the two-year period 2016-2017 it was possible to show an improvement by about 50% in the reduction of post-operative length of stay (LOS) by the University Hospital "San Giovanni di Dio e Ruggi d 'Aragona" of Salerno through the application of Lean techniques.