Routine upper gastrointestinal examinational examination in preoperative cholecystectomy patients

The charts of 663 patients who had cholecystectomy were reviewed to determine the usefulness of preoperative radiologic examination of the upper gastrointestinal tract. In 14% of the patients a positive finding was reported. However, slightly less than half of these findings were confirmed at surgery. Only 2.9% of the patients had a procedure in addition to cholecystectomy. It is felt that routine examination of the upper GI tract is not indicated in the preoperative evaluation of patients with gallbladder disease unless the clinical history is equivocal and one suspects coincidental disease.