Ultrasonic guidance for percutaneous puncture and drainage in acute cholecystitis

Thirteen patients presenting with acute cholecystitis and considered high surgical risks were treated with a percutaneous needling procedure under ultrasonic guidance. The gallbladder was drained following simple needle puncture in six cases while a drainage catheter was inserted in seven. A premedication of 0.5 mg of atropine and 50 mg of pethidine was given. The gallbladder became decompressed in all cases, and pain was instantly relieved. Impacted stones were freed from the cystic duct in two cases and from the papilla of Vater in another two cases. The patients' condition improved and elective cholecystectomy was performed in four cases, while a further three patients await surgery. In five cases the acute stage of the disease subsided; surgical treatment was refrained from because of gallbladder carcinoma with metastases in one patient and other diseases in the remainder. One patient died of gastric carcinoma. One patient with ischemic heart disease had systemic hypotension for six hours after the drainage and one had slight haemorrhage for four hours. No other complications were noted. In addition, the procedure was also carried out as a diagnostic study in one patient in whom the site of bile leakage was determined by filling the biliary tree with contrast medium from the gallbladder. Guided aspiration and percutaneous drainage of the gallbladder is helpful in patients with severe acute cholecystitis attended with a high surgical risk.