Cholelithiasis in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

In a five year review, there were 30 cases of cholelithiasis treated at the Muhimbili Medical Centre, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The male to female ratio was 1:3, and the peak age for cholelithiasis was in the 30 to 49 years age group. Right upper quadrant abdominal pain was the commonest presenting symptom (100 pc), and cholecystectomy was performed in all patients. Local complications of gall stones were recorded in seven patients (23.3 pc) and these included; gall bladder empyema, pericholecysteal abscess, CBD stone, gall bladder adenoma, gall bladder mucocele, and two patients had acute cholecystis. Stones were multiple in 90 pc of patients, and on macroscopic classification the ratio of cholesterol to pigment stones was 2:1. There was no death in this series of 30 patients.