Cholescintigraphy in patients with acute cholecystitis before and after percutaneous gallbladder drainage.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate gallbladder function by use of cholescintigraphy in patients with acute cholecystitis before and after percutaneous gallbladder drainage.

DESIGN

A cholescintigraphy was performed in 40 patients with acute cholecystitis before and after the performance of percutaneous gallbladder drainage. During the post-drainage cholescintigraphies, a cholecystokinin stimulation was performed to investigate gallbladder emptying in 12 selected patients. Gallbladder pressure and volume were measured before drainage in another group of 12 patients with acute cholecystitis.

RESULTS

As expected, no gallbladder activity was observed in the cholescintigraphies before drainage, except in a patient with an occluding stone in the common bile duct. Cystic duct patency and gallbladder activity were seen in 80% of patients in cholescintigraphies performed after drainage but before any other treatment. Post-drainage cholescintigraphy revealed a mean gallbladder ejection fraction of 24%, which is significantly lower than the corresponding value in normal individuals and gallstone patients without cholecystitis (n = 12). Gallbladder pressure and volume were markedly increased compared with normal values.

CONCLUSION

The relief of increased gallbladder pressure and volume appears to be important for the re-establishment of gallbladder function.