Abstract: Introduction: A proportion of
patients do not get symptomatic relief after cholecystectomy for gallstone
disease. The ultrasound finding of gallstones may be incidental and peptic
ulcer disease of the stomach or the duodenum, gastro-oesophageal reflux or
hiatus hernia may be the true cause of pain. Symptomatology of upper GI
diseases can be overlapping. Upper abdominal pain may be secondary to either
cholelithiasis or gastroduodenal diseases. Differentiating between these two
situations is important, because the prevalence of both conditions is common in
the general population. Thus, this study tries to seek the importance of upper
gastrointestinal endoscopy to reveal the association between gastrointestinal
symptoms and diseases with gallstones.
Aims and Objectives: To assess the value of preoperative upper GI endoscopy for qualifying
patients with gallstone disease undergoing elective cholecystectomy, by
determining upper GI lesions.
Materials and Methods: This is an observational study conducted on 50 cases of ultrasound proven
gallstone disease. After the initial examination, all the patients were
subjected to Upper GI endoscopy, and biopsy samples were obtained for
histopathology wherever indicated.
Conclusion: Routine pre-operative
upper GI endoscopy will help to detect the upper GI lesions which may be the
true cause of symptoms, or they both (Gallstones and Upper GI lesions) may
co-exist concomitantly, as is evidenced by our study wherein the upper GI
lesions were detected in 62% (n=31) of the study sample, which otherwise
undetected will lead to persistence of symptoms, even after cholecystectomy.
