Giant gallstone: A case report.

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Surgical Case Reports

Background:

• High incidence of gallstones in the Chilean population.
• Gallstones are a common condition, but extremely large ones are rare.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report a rare case of an extremely large gallstone.
• To document the characteristics and surgical management of a giant gallstone.

Main Methods:

• Case report of a 57-year-old male with right upper quadrant abdominal pain.
• Diagnostic imaging included abdominal ultrasound revealing acute cholecystitis and a large gallstone.
• Surgical intervention: Emergency classical cholecystectomy.

Main Results:

• A single, giant, pear-shaped gallstone was identified (16.8 cm length, 7.8 cm widest, 4.1 cm narrowest).
• The gallstone's fresh weight was 278.0 g, and dry weight after 4 years was 259.5 g.
• Successful emergency cholecystectomy was performed.

Conclusions:

• This represents potentially the largest gallstone ever reported in the English or Spanish medical literature.
• Highlights the possibility of exceptionally large gallstones even in populations with high gallstone incidence.