Cholecystectomy Increases the Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease: A Nationwide Longitudinal Cohort Study

Background/Objectives: Growing evidence suggests that cholecystectomy is associated with adverse health outcomes, including the development of metabolic diseases. However, data on the association between cholecystectomy and kidney disease are limited. The present study aimed to investigate the association between cholecystectomy and chronic kidney disease (CKD) using a nationwide longitudinal cohort. Methods: Participants aged ≥20 years with cholecystectomy between 2010 and 2014 (n = 116,748) and age- and sex-matched control participants without cholecystectomy (n = 116,748) were analyzed using the Korea National Health Insurance Service data. The adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) were calculated for incident CKD in the cholecystectomy group compared with the nonoperative controls. Results: A total of 233,496 participants were included (mean age, 54.7 ± 12.7 years; 52.6% men). During the mean follow-up period of 4.8 ± 1.7 years, 6450 patients (5.5%) were newly diagnosed with CKD in the cholecystectomy group. Cholecystectomy was an independent risk factor for the development of CKD after adjustment for confounders, including age, sex, income, health behaviors, and comorbidities. The risk of CKD was 21% higher in the cholecystectomy group compared to the non-cholecystectomy group (aHR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.17-1.26). The increased risk of CKD in the cholecystectomy group was consistently significant when a stratified analysis by age, sex, and presence or absence of comorbidities was conducted. Conclusions: Cholecystectomy was independently associated with an increased risk of developing CKD in a nationwide population-based study. Therefore, careful and long-term monitoring of the risk of CKD after cholecystectomy is necessary.