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Multicenter Study
. 2008 Mar 7;14(9):1383-8.
doi: 10.3748/wjg.14.1383.

Management of cholelithiasis in Italian children: a national multicenter study

Claudia Della Corte  1 , Diego Falchetti, Gabriella Nebbia, Marisa Calacoci, Maria Pastore, Ruggiero Francavilla, Matilde Marcellini, Pietro Vajro, Raffaele Iorio
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Management of cholelithiasis in Italian children: a national multicenter study

Claudia Della Corte et al. World J Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the management of Italian children with cholelithiasis observed at Pediatric and Surgical Departments linked to Italian Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition.

Methods: One-hundred-eighty children (90 males, median age at diagnosis 7.3 years; range, 0-18 years) with echographic evidence of cholelithiasis were enrolled in the study; the data were collected by an anonymous questionnaire sent to participating centers.

Results: One hundred seventeen patients were treated with ursodeoxycholic acid; in 8 children dissolution of gallstones was observed, but the cholelithiasis recurred in 3 of them. Sixty-five percent of symptomatic children treated became asymptomatic. Sixty-four patients were treated with cholecystectomy and in only 2 cases a postoperative complication was reported. Thirty-four children received no treatment and were followed with clinical and echographic controls; in no case the development of complications was reported.

Conclusion: The therapeutic strategies were extremely heterogeneous. Ursodeoxycholic acid was ineffective in dissolution of gallstones but it had a positive effect on the symptoms. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was confirmed to be an efficacy and safe treatment for pediatric gallstones.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Risk factors for cholelithiasis and age at diagnosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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