Cholecystocolic Fistula: A Diagnostic Enigma

Cholecystocolic fistula is a rare biliary-enteric fistula with a variable clinical presentation. Despite modern diagnostic tools, a high degree of suspicion is required to diagnose it preoperatively. Biliary-enteric fistulae have been found in 0.9% of patients undergoing biliary tract surgery. The most common site of communication of the fistula is a cholecystoduodenal (70%), followed by cholecystocolic (10–20%), and the least common is the cholecystogastric fistula accounting for the remainder of cases. These fistulae are treated by open as well as laparoscopic surgery, with no difference in intraoperative and postoperative complications. We report here a case of obstructive jaundice, which was investigated with a plain film of the abdomen, abdominal ultrasonography, and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, but none of these gave us any clue to the presence of the fistula was discovered incidentally during an open surgery and was appropriately treated.