Incidental finding of gallbladder carcinoma detected during or after laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Aim: Carcinoma of the gallbladder is a rare neoplasm with a dismal prognosis. With the increase of cholecystectomies due to the wide acceptance of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the incidental diagnosis of gallbladder carcinoma is more frequent. We report our experience with gallbladder cancer diagno...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of surgical oncology 2003-05, Vol.29 (4), p.358-360
Main Authors: Antonakis, P., Alexakis, N., Mylonaki, D., Leandros, E., M. Konstadoulakis, M., Zografos, G., Androulakis, G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adenocarcinoma - diagnosis
Adenocarcinoma - epidemiology
Aged
Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic
Female
Gallbladder Neoplasms - diagnosis
Gallbladder Neoplasms - epidemiology
Greece - epidemiology
Humans
laparoscopy, cholecystectomy, gallbladder cancer
Male
Middle Aged
Prognosis
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Summary:Aim: Carcinoma of the gallbladder is a rare neoplasm with a dismal prognosis. With the increase of cholecystectomies due to the wide acceptance of laparoscopic cholecystectomy, the incidental diagnosis of gallbladder carcinoma is more frequent. We report our experience with gallbladder cancer diagnosed during or after the performance of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Methods: We evaluated 11 patients with gallbladder cancer out of 5539 patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Patient clinical and demographic characteristics were reviewed. Results:Intraoperatively in 297 patients there was the suspicion of adenocarcinoma and frozen sections were performed. In four of them the diagnosis of adenocarcinoma was confirmed. In two of them the procedure was converted to open with gallbladder liver bed resection and regional lymph node dissection while the other two were considered inoperable. Of the remaining 5242 patients, seven were diagnosed postoperatively at the pathologic examination. Of these, five patients refused to undergo a repeat operation. We did not observe port site metastasis in any of our patients. Survival was low and ranged from 3–14 months. Conclusion:Gallbladder cancer runs a short course, with a poor prognosis. The use of a meticulous laparoscopic technique seems to be important for the diagnosis and the avoidance of early complications of the disease.
ISSN:0748-7983
1532-2157
DOI:10.1053/ejso.2002.1402