A new abdominal drainage tube fixation method for 3-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy improves patients’ postoperative quality of life

Objective Laparoscopic surgery has become a routine general surgery with many advantages, such as alleviating abdominal pain. However, postoperative pain caused by abdominal drainage tubes has attracted little attention from medical staff. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of a new abdominal drainage tube fixation method for 3-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) surgery on patients’ postoperative quality of life. Methods Patients who underwent 3-port LC surgery with abdominal drainage tubes in the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery of Linyi People's Hospital from March 1, 2023, to October 31, 2023 due to gallstones with chronic cholecystitis were selected for this study. The patients were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group. In the experimental group, the new abdominal drainage tube fixation method was used, while in the control group, the traditional method was used. Afterward, the patients evaluated their quality of life in terms of pain, activity, recovery time, and mental health status. The exudate around the patient's drainage tube was collected and sent for bacterial culture and analysis. Results A total of 139 patients were randomly divided into an experimental group (70 patients) and a control group (69 patients). The patients’ baseline characteristics were not significantly different. The patients in the experimental group had better outcomes in quality of life, with higher pain scores (24.03±2.37 vs. 15.48±2.29, p<0.001) and activity scores (20.57±1.78 vs. 14.13±1.43, p<0.001), and a shorter postoperative recovery time (2.36± 0.68 d vs. 2.96 ±1.34 d, p<0.001). The same results were shown in linear regression analysis scores of the two groups. The positive rate of bacterial culture in the exudate around the patient's drainage tube in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (12.9% vs. 43.5%, p<0.001); and furthermore, the positive rate of conditional pathogenic bacteria was even lower (7.1% vs. 33.3%, p<0.001) in the experimental group than in the control group. Conclusion This new abdominal drainage tube fixation method can effectively promote patient rehabilitation and improve patient quality of life following 3-port LC surgery with abdominal drainage tubes, increasing the clinical application value of this technique.