Journal of Clinical and Experimental Investigations

Abstract

Gallstone ileus is a rare but serious complication of cholelithiasis. It is a rare cause of small bowel obstruction but it accounts up to 25% of non-strangulated small bowel obstructions in elderly. Obstruction usually occurs in the terminal ileum. Although the most frequent mechanism of gallstone ileus is migration of the gallstone through a gallbladder-duodenal fistula, there have been cases of bowel obstruction caused by gallstones without any findings of bilio-enteric fistula during the operation. The diagnosis is usually delayed due to nonspecific clinical signs and symptoms. Abdominal computerized tomography (CT) scan is the optimal way to diagnose the gallstone ileus. It can identify the site and nature of the obstruction. The optimal surgical approach is a matter of debate. Enterolithotomy is the most performed operation. One stage operation should be performed in selected low risk patients. In this study, we report a 55 years old male patient who underwent surgical intervention due to gallstone ileus. During the operation, we observed that two individual gallstones lead to obstruction in anastomotic stricture which was due to the patient’s prior small bowel resection. Also, no fistula was found during the operation between the gall bladder and the gastrointestinal tract of patient. The gallstones were removed by enterolithotomy. Because there was no gallstone in the gallbladder, we did not perform cholecystectomy.