Gallstone ileus as a complication of cholecystolithiasis

Abstract

Biliary fistula and gallston ileus are rarely found. The diagnosis is difficult. Gallstone ileus requires urgent and appropriate surgical therapy. Enterolitotomy remains the gold standard of operative treatment for gallstone ileus, but additional procedures of one-stage cholecystectomy and repair of fistula are necessary. Some researchers advise first to resolve the gallstone ileus and then to perform the elective operation for gallstone disease in more ideal circumstances. Our case had clinical evidence of ileus, which was confirmed by radiological exam. Ultrasonographic examination performed before operation did not confirm the presence of gallbladder; it did not detect a large stone located in the intestine. The patient, a 75-year-old woman, was operated on. During the procedure it was shown that the second part of the duodenum was involved in a scar and displaced to the hepatic hilus. There was no gallbladder; it was propably destroyed by a long-lasting vesicoduodenal fistula. Cholangiography also did not detect the gallbladder. Biliary passage through the common bile duct was sufficient. The hole in the duodenum wall was sutured, and Kehr drain was inserted into the common bile duct. The gallstone was removed by incision of the intestine down to the obstruction. The postoperative period was complicated by a small suppuration of the laparotomy wound. Vesicoduodenal fistula present for a long time can lead to atrophy of the gallbladder. The one-stage procedure seems to be appropriate if biliary fistula and gallstone ileus are found.