Minimally invasive management of acute biliary tract disease during pregnancy

Acute biliary diseases during pregnancy have been classically managed conservatively. Advances in minimally invasive surgery and the high recurrence rate of symptoms observed changed this management.

This is a prospective observational study. Initial management was medical. Unresponsive patients were treated with minimally invasive techniques including gallbladder percutaneous aspiration or cholecystostomy, endoscopic retrograde cholangiography, and laparoscopic cholecystectomy, depending on the pregnancy trimester and underlying diagnosis.

122 patients were admitted. 69 (56.5%) were unresponsive to medical treatment. Recurrent gallbladder colic was the most frequent indication for minimally invasive intervention, followed by acute cholecystitis, choledocholithiasis, and acute biliary pancreatitis. 8 patients were treated during the first trimester, 54 during the second, and 7 during the last trimester. There was no fetal morbidity or mortality. Maternal morbidity was minor with no mortality.

Acute biliary tract diseases during pregnancy may be safely treated with minimally invasive procedures according to the underlying diagnosis and to the trimester of pregnancy.