Gallbladder agenesis: An accidental finding during laparotomy for hepatic tumor

Anomalies of the biliary system are frequently encountered. Agenesis of the gall bladder is a rare. The exact incidence is not known as most cases are asymptomatic and diagnosed incidentally during surgeries for unrelated conditions or at autopsy. This anomaly may occur alone or in association with other anomalies such as other biliary anomalies, portal vein anomalies and other vascular anomalies, or in some cases hepatic, gastrointestinal or anomalies in other body systems.

An elderly man diagnoses with segment VI liver tumor and planned for surgical resection. During surgery we accidentally discovered gall bladder agenesis with slightly dilated common bile duct. The tumor resected successfully and the final diagnosis was well differentiated with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Careful search for the gall bladder must be done before diagnosing agenesis of the gall bladder. No conversion is required provided adequate visualization and search for the gall bladder is done during laparoscopy. Postoperative MCRP will define the biliary anatomy and to help the surgeons to have postoperative accurate decision.