Posttraumatic acalculous cholecystitis.

Acalculous cholecystitis occurred in six patients after trauma and burns. The majority developed signs and symptoms similar to acute calculous cholecystitis. All were treated by cholecystectomy after traditional conservative treatment failed. All had either gangrenous changes or focal necrosis of the gallbladder. Postoperative recovery was uniform. Acalculous cholecystitis occurs in 0.5% of large series of injured or burned patients. Delayed recognition led to a high mortality, reported as 24% overall with 10% related to gallbladder disease. Although cholecystostomy has been advocated, it appears that cholecystectomy, when feasible, affords the best overall results.