Predicting Difficulty in Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy

A literature review was undertaken of PubMed, Embase and Cochrane databases between January 1965 and July 2014 for publications relating to difficulty prediction in laparoscopic cholecystectomy using the search terms ‘Laparoscopic cholecystectomy or Lap chole’ and/or ‘Scoring Index or Grading system or Prediction of difficulty or Conversion to open’ in various combinations. Cross-referencing from papers retrieved in the original search identified additional articles. All studies had to be published in English literature. Case reports and data from abstracts were excluded.