Gallbladder motility before and after Billroth II gastric resection

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Billroth II gastric resection (BII) without vagotomy on gallbladder contraction in response to meal and CCK-OP infusion. Fourteen duodenal ulcer patients were studied before surgery and six months postoperatively. Gallbladder volume was measured by real-time ultrasonography. After surgery, there was a significant increase in fasting gallbladder volume (P < 0.05). Postprandial gallbladder emptying was not significantly affected by gastrectomy apart from a trend towards a shorter t1/2 and a larger ejection volume. In addition, postoperative gallbladder relaxation was more pronounced at time 120 min. In response to cholecystokinin-octapeptide (CCK-OP) infusion, there was a significant decrease of t1/2 after BII and a prolonged contraction with a significantly reduced gallbladder volume. Our data show that the gallbladder response both to meal and CCK-OP infusion is modified after BII and a larger postoperative gallbladder volume may play a role in the pathogenesis of gallstone disease after gastric surgery.