Risk factors for gallstone disease in the laparoscopic era

The risk factors for gallstone disease are well known, but they have not been updated to take the development of better ultrasound technology and the advent of laparoscopic surgery into consideration.

We compared two groups of patients who underwent ultrasound-one group (n = 100) who underwent cholecystectomy after ultrasound revealed the presence of gallstones and a control group (n = 107) in whom no gallstones were shown on ultrasound.

Seven patients in the control group refused to participate in the study; otherwise, the groups are sequential. Age in the surgery group was 51 years (+/- 16) vs 50 (+/- 16) for the control group. The percentage of female patients was 59% and 52%, respectively (p = ns). Body mass index was 32 (+/- 8) and 28 (+/- 6), respectively (p = 0.013). Parity > 2 was 0.49% and 0.37%, respectively (p = 0.000001). The number who breast-fed at least one child was 17 (24%) and eight (12%), respectively (p = 0.03). Oral contraceptive use was 37 (52%) and 17 (22%), respectively (p = 0.0005). Primary relatives who had had gallbladder surgery was 0.68 (+/- 1) and 0.35 (+/- 0.6), respectively (p = 0.02).

Body mass index, breast-feeding, oral contraceptives, parity > 2, and family history were found to be risk factors for gallstone disease. Age and female sex were not, probably due to selection bias.