To investigate the operation timing of laparoscopic cholecystectomy for mildly biliary pancreatitis.

Pubmed, MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, CBMdisc, Wanfang database were searched to collect published English and Chinese literature on randomized controlled trials (RCT) of early and delayed cholecystectomy for mildly biliary pancreatitis. The primary outcome was the readmission rate due to recurrence of biliary complication. Secondary outcomes included intraoperative and postoperative complications, conversion rate, biliary colic, degree of surgical difficulty, mortality, operation time and hospital stay. The above indicators were analyzed by RevMan 5.2 software.

Five RCTs were identified, which included 629 patients, 318 in the early cholecystectomy (EC) group and 311 in the delayed cholecystectomy (DC) group. Compared with patients in DC group, the readmission rate due to recurrence of biliary complications in EC group was significantly reduced (OR=0.15, 95% CI: 0.08-0.28, P<0.001). However, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in the incidence of intraoperative complications (OR=0.57, 95% CI: 0.17-1.84, P=0.34), postoperative complications (OR= 0.77, 95% CI: 0.38-1.55, P=0.46), and conversion rate (OR=1.57, 95% CI: 0.69-3.54, P=0.28).

Early cholecystectomy for mildly biliary pancreatitis is a safe and effective treatment, which can reduce the readmission rate due to recurrence of biliary complications without increasing the incidence of intraoperative and postoperative complications.