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Accuracy of ultrasound in the diagnosis of acute cholecystitis with coexistent acute pancreatitis

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European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Acute cholecystitis and pancreatitis are acute forms of cholecystolithiasis. The presence of acute cholecystitis can lead to important changes in therapy in the early course of acute pancreatitis. The aim of this study was to identify the accuracy of ultrasonography in diagnosing acute cholecystitis with coexistent acute pancreatitis.

Methods

Subjects were all those patients admitted to our hospital with a diagnosis of acute pancreatitis between 1998 and 2015 who underwent cholecystectomy within 15 days of the ultrasonography performed on admittance. Patient data were analyzed retrospectively to compare the ultrasound findings with the pathological findings of the resected gallbladders. Patients were allocated to two groups according to the signs of acute cholecystitis on ultrasonography: group 1 negative and group 2 positive.

Results

One hundred and twenty patients were enrolled in the study: 77 in group 1 and 43 in group 2. Similar results were found for the two groups with respect to the pathological diagnosis of acute cholecystitis, i.e., 31.2 % for group 1 and 27.9 % for group 2. Analysis indicated that there was no correlation between the ultrasonography data and pathological findings (p = 0.708).

Conclusions

On the basis of our study, ultrasound findings alone cannot be used to accurately diagnose acute cholecystitis in the setting of acute pancreatitis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. General Surgery Department 1, Tondela-Viseu Hospital Centre, Viseu, Portugal

    J. Pereira, A. C. Afonso, J. Constantino & L. Pinheiro

  2. Centre for the Study of Education, Technologies and Health, Viseu, Portugal

    A. Matos

  3. School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, Viseu, Portugal

    A. Matos & C. Henriques

  4. Centre for Mathematics, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    C. Henriques

  5. General Surgery Department, Minimally Invasive Surgery Unit, Policlinico San Pietro, Ponte San Pietro, BG, Italy

    M. Zago

Authors
  1. J. Pereira
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  2. A. C. Afonso
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  3. J. Constantino
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  4. A. Matos
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  5. C. Henriques
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  6. M. Zago
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  7. L. Pinheiro
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to J. Pereira.

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Conflict of interest

There is no identifiable conflict of interest to report. J. Pereira, A. C. Afonso, J. Constantino, A. Matos, C. Henriques, M. Zago and L. Pinheiro have no financial or proprietary interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript.

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors. All patient data were collected retrospectively. Anonymity of participants was guaranteed, and the ethical review board was notified of this study. All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008.

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Pereira, J., Afonso, A.C., Constantino, J. et al. Accuracy of ultrasound in the diagnosis of acute cholecystitis with coexistent acute pancreatitis. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg 43, 79–83 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-015-0619-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00068-015-0619-4

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