Efficacy and safety of reuse of disposable laparoscopic instruments in laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a prospective randomized study.

<bold>Background: </bold>The aim of this prospective randomized study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of the reuse of disposable laparoscopic instruments (DLI) in laparoscopic cholecystectomy.<bold>Methods: </bold>A total of 125 consecutive patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis were randomly assigned to undergo laparoscopic cholecystectomy with single-use DLI (group 1, n = 62) or DLI that were reused (group 2, n = 63) after high-level disinfection by alkalinized 2% glutaraldehyde. Operative and postoperative outcomes were investigated.<bold>Results: </bold>There was no significant difference between group 1 and group 2 in mean operating time, linear analogue pain scale score, duration and amount of analgesic administration, or hospital stay. Total incidence of complications (3.2% vs 4.8%, p = 0.50) and infection rates (1.6% vs 3.2%, p = 0.57) were also similar when group 1 was compared to group 2.<bold>Conclusion: </bold>This study showed that reusing DLI did not change the operative and postoperative outcomes or the infection rate for laparoscopic cholecystectomy when strict rules for disinfection were followed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]