Management of symptomatic cholelithiasis while on ketogenic diet: a case report

The ketogenic diet is a treatment modality used for patients with refractory epilepsy. Development of cholelithiasis while on the ketogenic diet is a potential side effect that has been described in the literature. There however have not been any reports on the outcomes of continuing the diet after cholecystectomy.

We present a 5-year-old boy with history of pharmacologically intractable epilepsy that was well controlled on the ketogenic diet. He underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for the development of symptomatic cholelithiasis 12 months after the initiation of ketogenic diet for seizure control.

Patient tolerated the surgery well and was able to continue the ketogenic diet postoperatively.

There have been no reports describing the continuation of ketogenic diet after cholecystectomy. This child demonstrates the safety of the procedure and the ability to continue the ketogenic diet without further biliary or surgical complications.