Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Cholecystocolonic fistula: an incidental intraoperative discovery managed laparoscopically
  1. Imran Thariq Ajmal1,
  2. Felix Anand1,
  3. Pavithra Selvam1 and
  4. Venkiteswaran Muralidhar2
  1. 1Department of General Surgery, Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India
  2. 2General Surgery, Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kanchipuram, India
  1. Correspondence to Dr Venkiteswaran Muralidhar; vxm297{at}student.bham.ac.uk

Abstract

Cholecystoenteric fistula is a rare complication of cholelithiasis, occurring in 3%–5% of patients with cholelithiasis. The symptoms are typically minimal and vague, with either acute or subacute presentations, rarely leading to bowel obstruction, and occasionally manifesting as chronic abdominal pain. In this case, a male patient in his early 30s presented with epigastric and right hypochondrial pain. On evaluation, he was diagnosed with gallstone disease and adenomyomatosis of the gallbladder. During laparoscopic cholecystectomy, a cholecystocolonic fistula was unexpectedly discovered. The fistula was managed laparoscopically using ENDOLOOP (prelooped chromic catgut ligature) ligation of the fistulous tract. The patient recovered without complications and was discharged on the third postoperative day. This case emphasises the importance of intraoperative vigilance and demonstrates a successful minimally invasive management approach.

  • Gastroenterology
  • Gastrointestinal surgery
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

Footnotes

  • Contributors The following authors were responsible for drafting of the text, sourcing and editing of clinical images, investigation results, drawing original diagrams and algorithms, and critical revision for important intellectual content: ITA, FA, PS and VM. The following authors gave final approval of the manuscript: ITA, FA, PS and VM. ITA is the guarantor.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.