LAUSR

In our practice, we have observed a higher conversion rate (8%) in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) following endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Similar findings have been reported in the literature. It remains to be confirmed whether this higher degree of operative difficulty is due to ERCP itself or is secondary to co‐existing gallstone pathologies, namely acute cholecystitis (AC) and pancreatitis. We set out to establish if the indications for ERCP, ERCP‐related factors (number of ERCPs, sphincterotomy, stone retrieval, stent insertion and time between ERCP and LC) and co‐existing gallstone pathologies would affect the degree of difficulty (DoD) of LC following ERCP.