Acute cholecystitis: literature review

Brigita Stočkutė1, Rūta Maželytė1

1Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Faculty of medicine

Abstract

Cholecystitis is an inflammation of the gallbladder. It normally happens because a gallstone gets stuck at the opening of the gallbladder. Acute cholecystitis  is a potentially serious condition that usually needs to be treated in hospital. The main symptom of acute cholecystitis is a sudden sharp pain in the upper right side of abdomen that spreads towards right shoulder. Untreated, it can result in perforation of the gallbladder, tissue death and gangrene, fibrosis or secondary bacterial infections. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the best treatment for acute cholecystitis and the procedure should ideally be performed within 72 h. Early surgery is associated with better results in comparison to delayed surgery. Early operation may lessen hospital stay but an increased risk of biliary injury has been reported. The literary data concerning the cholecystitis radiological diagnosis have been presented in this article.

Keywords: acute cholecystitis, gangrenous cholecystitis, emphysematous cholecystitis diagnostic radiology.