Purpose: The authors evaluated the outcome of 49 hospitalized patients with sepsis and possible acute cholecystitis in whom emergency percutaneous cholecystostomy was attempted on 50 occasions.
Patients and methods: All cholecystostomy procedures were performed with ultrasound (US) guidance by using either the trocar (n = 35) or the Seldinger (n = 15) technique. Forty of the 50 cholecystostomies (80%) were attempted at the patients' bedside, and 49 of the 50 catheters (98%) were placed successfully.
Results: Twenty-five of these patients eventually died of other causes (51%), but there was clinical improvement in 31 of the 49 patients (63%) based on a 72-hour decrease of temperature to less than 37.3 degrees C, normalization of white blood cell count, and/or resolution of abdominal pain. US findings were correlated with clinical response. Clinical improvement occurred most frequently after cholecystostomy in patients with either a distended gallbladder (74%), pericholecystic fluid (80%), or gallstones (92%). Forty-three of the 49 patients underwent cholecystostomy alone (88%), and six required further procedures (12%). There were six complications (12%) including catheter dislodgment (n = 3), hematoma (n = 1), and severe pain (n = 2). No deaths were directly attributed to percutaneous cholecystostomy.
Conclusion: Percutaneous cholecystostomy performed in septic hospitalized patients is a low-risk procedure that may be helpful in the treatment of some patients with suspected acute cholecystitis.