Management of recurrent gallstones

The risk of gallstone recurrence following non-surgical treatment has been overestimated in the past for two reasons: (1) diagnosis of primary gallstone dissolution was based on oral cholecystography; and (2) gallstone recurrence was expressed as a cumulative recurrence rate. Results based on better methodologies for diagnosis of gallstones (ultrasonography) and for calculation of results (life-table analysis) have indicated that gallstones recur in about 50% of patients, and that the risk of recurrence is confined mainly to the first 5 years after dissolution. Pretreatment gallstone characteristics, but not patient characteristics, are important risk factors for gallstone recurrence. Multiple stones are more likely to recur than solitary stones, a phenomenon attributable to the presence of a potent pronucleating factor in the bile of patients with multiple stones. This observation, and the finding that NSAID administration may reduce gallstone recurrence via inhibition of mucin secretion, suggests that the nucleation defect might be a key factor in the pathogenesis of recurrent gallstones. Prophylaxis with low-dose CDCA or UDCA has proven ineffective for preventing gallstone recurrence, although it may reduce it. Since the majority of recurrent gallstones are small when first seen because of regular ultrasonographic follow-up, multiple, radiolucent and in functioning gallbladders, they are amenable to bile acid retreatment, and intermittent bile acid therapy is probably a viable strategy for long-term management of cholesterol cholelithiasis.