Reformed gallbladder after laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy: correlation of surgical findings with ultrasound and CT imaging(†)

Laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy is a technique that is becoming increasingly prevalent in modern surgery. It avoids the cystic duct and artery where acute or chronic cholecystitis prevents a safe laparoscopic dissection of these structures. There are numerous reports of symptomatic cystic duct remnants after subtotal cholecystectomy in the literature on post-cholecystectomy syndrome. We present a case report of a 62-year-old man who underwent emergent laparoscopic subtotal cholecystectomy complicated by the development of a persistent, controlled bile leak. This was followed on serial ultrasound examinations and managed with multiple drain insertions and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. The patient represented 4 months later with right upper quadrant pain and was found to have an apparently normal gallbladder on CT abdomen. Repeat laparoscopic cholecystectomy demonstrated a reformed gallbladder wall and was completed in the standard fashion. This case demonstrates an unexpected complication of laparoscopic cholecystectomy with correlation of radiological and surgical findings.