Cholecystectomy is an effective treatment for biliary dyskinesia

An increasing number of reports indicate symptomatic relief of biliary colic symptoms after cholecystectomy for biliary dyskinesia. Despite this, cholecystectomy as a treatment for biliary dyskinesia remains controversial. Our aim was to determine efficacy of cholecystectomy in alleviating biliary dyskinesia symptoms and the correlation with histologic findings.

Records of patients with gallbladder ejection fraction <35% between January 1994 and February 1999 were reviewed. Gallbladder pathology and degree of symptomatic improvement were determined on follow-up.

Of the 27 cholecystectomy patients, 24 (89%) had significant improvement, 2 (7%) had partial improvement, and 1 (4%) had minimal improvement. Ten patients (43%) had normal gall-bladder, and 9 (90%) of them had significant improvement after cholecystectomy. Of the 6 nonsurgical patients, none had significant improvement, 4 (67%) had partial improvement, and 2 (33%) had minimal improvement.

Biliary dyskinesia patients who underwent cholecystectomy had significantly greater symptom improvement compared with nonsurgical patients. Pathologic correlation suggests chronic inflammation may not be the only cause of gallbladder dysfunction. Cholecystectomy should be a first-line therapy for biliary dyskinesia patients.