Management of Acute Cholecystitis During Pregnancy: A Single Center Experience

This study aimed to present to evaluate the results of two different approaches in the management of acute cholecystitis during pregnancy: immediate surgery and delayed surgery following conservative management.

In this study, 20 pregnant women who were treated in our clinic for acute cholecystitis between 2010 and 2018 were included in the analysis. Demographic characteristics, parameters related with acute cholecystitis (gallbladder wall thickness, laboratory data), duration of hospitalization, readmission rates, and preterm labor rate were retrospectively evaluated.

The median age was 29.5 years. The median gestational week was 20 (6-32) weeks. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed in 6 (30%) patients on admittance. When compared with the conservative management group, patients who received immediate surgery had higher gallbladder wall thickness. WBC count, and CRP, ALT, AST, ALP, and GGT levels (p<0.05). Furthermore, readmission rate and duration of hospitalization were lower in the patients who underwent immediate surgery (p<0.05). The preterm labor rate in conservative management and immediate surgery groups were 28.5% and 0%, respectively (p>0.05).

In this study, even though these patients had thicker gallbladder wall and higher inflammatory markers suggesting severe inflammation, the outcome of early surgery was better than conservative management. Although the characteristics of the conservative management group was more favorable, complication rate seemed to be high.