Pediatric cholecystectomy for symptomatic gallstones unrelated to hematologic disorder

BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Gallstones are being increasingly diagnosed in pediatric patients. The purpose of this study was to determine characteristics of pediatric patients who underwent cholecystectomy because of symptomatic gallstone disease unrelated to hemolytic disorder. METHODS: We reviewed cases of pediatric patients (under 18 years old) who underwent cholecystectomy between May 2005 and December 2015. RESULTS: A total 20 pediatric patients (under 18 years old) underwent cholecystectomy during the study period. One patient was excluded because cholecystectomy was performed due to gall stones caused by hemolytic anemia. The 19 cases comprised 9 male (47.3%) and 10 female (52.7%) subjects. The mean age was 14.9 years (range, 5-18), and 66.7% of patients were older than 12 years of age. Mean body weight was 65.0 kg (range, 13.9-93.3), and mean body mass index was 21.7 kg/m(2) (range, 12.3-35.1), with 26.37% of patients being overweight. All 19 patients underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy. There were no postoperative complications and no mortality. Comparison between overweight and non-overweight patients indicated that significantly more overweight patients had cholesterol stones (5/5 vs. 7/14, p=0.036) and were classified as complicated disease (3/5 vs. 1/14, p=0.037). CONCLUSIONS: The more frequent occurrence of complications such as choledocholithiasis or gallstone pancreatitis, in overweight patients indicates the need for more careful evaluation and management in these patients. Pediatricians and surgeons should always consider gallstone disease in pediatric patients despite difficulty in suspecting symptomatic gallstones in cases who present with abdominal pain that is rarely clear-cut.