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[Long-term follow-up of non-operated patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic cholelithiasis]
A Csendes1, P Csendes, P Burdiles
1Departamento de Cirugía, Hospital Clínico de la Universidad de Chile, Santiago Chile.
Background:
In Chile, cholelithiasis is a serious public health problem and there are no studies about its natural history.
Aim:
To assess the long term evolution of patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic cholelithiasis.
Patients And Methods:
Ninety two patients with cholelithiasis (57 female), aged 15 to 80 years old and that were not operated, were followed during a period of 9 to 14 years.
Results:
Thirteen patients were initially asymptomatic. Of them, seven bad complications or symptoms during follow-up and two were operated. Among the 69 symptomatic patients, 38 (55%) were not operated during follow-up, and seventeen (25%) did not have symptoms again. Ten patients died during follow-up, four due to complications of biliary tract stones.
Conclusions:
The present finding suggest that the evolution of cholelithiasis in Chile is more aggressive than abroad, and an early surgical treatment is warranted.