Complete acute gallbladder torsion diagnosed with abdominal ultrasonography and colour Doppler imaging

An 82-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a provisional diagnosis of acute cholecystitis. Abdominal ultrasonography and colour Doppler imaging played the most important role in confirming a diagnosis of gallbladder torsion preoperatively, and we decided to treat it laparoscopically. Operative findings showed that gallbladder was rotated 360° counterclockwise around the cystic duct and artery. This was a complete torsion of a gross type I wandering gallbladder. The patient had an uneventful postoperative course and was discharged. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has recently been recommended for treating gallbladder torsion. Because the gallbladder is typically minimally adherent to the liver bed, cholecystectomy can be performed easily with minimal invasion. Gallbladder torsion is a relatively rare cause of an acute abdomen and is difficult to diagnose preoperatively, but we could diagnose complete, acute gallbladder torsion preoperatively with ultrasonography and colour Doppler imaging in this case, allowing for safe and completely curative laparoscopic cholecystectomy.