[Gallbladder agenesis. Case report]

Gallbladder agenesis is a very rare congenital abnormality of the biliary tract. The diagnosis is made during surgery, because all preoperative studies have failed to identify this malformation. The purpose of this article is to present a case of gallbladder agenesis diagnosed during surgery, its management, and a review of the literature.

The case involves a sixty-two year- old female, referring to repeated biliary colic symptoms. The abdominal ultrasound diagnosed cholelithiasis. It was impossible to identify the gallbladder during surgery. Diagnosis was confirmed by intra-operative cholangiography.

Preoperative diagnostic workup has failed to recognise patients with gallbladder agenesis. It is currently recommended to abandon the surgery once this diagnosis is suspected and confirm it by a cholangio-magnetic resonance scan in order to avoid a bile duct injury.

Agenesis of the gallbladder is a rare congenital abnormality of the biliary tree. Every surgeon must keep this rare entity in mind when a "difficult dissection" or an anatomic variant is identified during surgery, and make use of an intra-operative cholangiography, mainly to prevent a bile duct injury.