Ultrasound-guided percutaneous cholecystostomy as bridging or definitive treatment in patients with acute cholecystitis grade II or III

BACKGROUND: We aimed to investigate the extent to which ultrasound (US)-guided percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) is used as a bridging or definitive therapy for grade II and III acute cholecystitis and whether this treatment causes significant changes in C-reactive protein (CRP) and direct bilirubin (DB) levels in the first 72 h and the first three weeks. METHODS: We included 145 consecutive patients who underwent PC over 17 years. No patient had cirrhosis. PC was performed in the interventional radiology department under US guidance. RESULTS: US-guided PC was the definitive treatment for more than half of the patients (51.7%) and decreased DB levels significantly more than CRP levels. CONCLUSION: No statistically significant correlation between those whose CRP and DB levels normalized within three weeks and those who did not and required a second invasive procedure. Nevertheless, the bridging treatment group was significantly older than the definitive treatment group.