Acute Acalculous Cholecystitis in Burns: A Review

Acute acalculous cholecystitis (AAC) is an acute inflammatory disorder of the gallbladder, which can complicate the recovery of burn patients. No formal literature review has been performed about this uncommon but potentially fatal complication in burn care. A Pubmed search from 1950 to 2015 was performed using MESH terms: "acalculous cholecystitis," "burns or thermal injuries or thermal damage," and "cholecystitis or gallbladder inflammation." The articles were analyzed and data collected individually on the incidence, presenting symptoms or signs, risk factors, investigations, and treatment modalities used. An International Burns Injury Database (IBID) search was additionally performed to identify the incidence of AAC in burn patients between 2005 and 2015 in the United Kingdom. Nineteen articles were identified which described 90 cases of AAC and thermal injuries. The incidence of AAC in burns ranges between 0.4 and 3.5%, typically affecting males (82.4%) with a mean age of 35 (range 13-89), and 97.8% of burns were >30% total body surface area (range: 22-80%). The majority of patients had established known risk factors for acquiring AAC, including blood transfusion (56.6% of patients), sepsis (52.2%), mechanical ventilation (45.5%), prolonged fasting or total parenteral nutrition administration (44.4%), and use of narcotic medication (10%). The IBID search identified one case of AAC among 145,227 burn injuries during 2005 to 2015 in the United Kingdom. AAC is a rare life-threatening condition that is associated with large thermal burns. Improvements in burns critical care have probably improved the management of known risk factors and reduced the incidence of this condition over recent decades.