Gallbladder carcinoma: Diagnostic and therapeutic possibilities

Thirty-six patients affected by gallbladder carcinoma, were observed from 1975 to 1990. Most of them were operated on in the late stage of the disease. The authors point out the high percentage of exploratory laparotomy (47,2%), due to a lack of preoperative diagnosis and the necessity for palliative treatment for obstructive jaundice (36%) and for obstructive bowel disease (8,3%). Simple cholecystectomy was performed on 13,8% of the patients in whom the neoplastic disease was unknown at the time of the operation. On only one patient was radical cholecystectomy, as proposed by Glenn, performed. The postoperative mortality rate was 33%, essentially due to exploratory laparotomy. Finally, the authors refer to the follow-up and discuss convently available diagnostic tools and the therapeutic purposes.