Endoscopically Obtained Bile Aspirate is an Accurate Adjunct in the Diagnosis of Symptomatic Gallbladder Disease

OBJECTIVES: The experience of a single surgeon in a rural hospital over a 10-year period was analyzed with respect to the utilization of endoscopically obtained bile aspirates as an adjunct in the diagnosis of symptomatic gallbladder disease. METHODS: A retrospective study of the author's entire cholecystectomy experience over a 10-year period with 641 patients was conducted to evaluate the utility of the bile aspirate in the preoperative selection of operative candidates and with respect to the ultimate pathologic diagnostic accuracy of the test. RESULTS: Derivation of preoperative diagnosis via traditional standard means was possible in 479 patients. An endoscopically obtained positive bile aspirate was found in 162 additional patients who failed to have positive traditional diagnostic studies (acalculous gallbladder disease). Micro-pathology was determined to be present in 603 patients (94.07%). In 27 of the 38 negatives, there had been positive radiological studies (71%). In 11 of the 38, a positive preoperative bile aspirate had been obtained (28.9%). Of the 162 patients with a positive bile aspirate, 151 (93.21%) of the gallbladder specimens had confirmatory histologic analysis (92.1% confidence interval ± 3.95%). CONCLUSION: In patients with symptoms suggestive of clinical gallbladder disease and negative traditional diagnostic studies, the endoscopically obtained bile aspirate has been shown to be a highly reliable tool in establishing the diagnosis and is recommended as an aid in the appropriate selection of candidates who may benefit from cholecystectomy.