Incidental Gallbladder Cancer: Statistical Overview in a Tertiary Hospital in Fortaleza, CE, Brazil

Introduction:  Gallbladder adenocarcinoma is the most common malignant tumor of the bile ducts and is sometimes discovered incidentally after cholecystectomy for benign gallbladder disease.

Objective:  To determine the prevalence and describe epidemiological aspects observed in patients diagnosed with incidental gallbladder cancer (IBC) in cholecystectomies performed between 2015 and 2022 at the "Hospital Universitário Walter Cantídio".

Method:  Descriptive cross-sectional study, with retrospective data where all medical records of patients undergoing elective and non-elective cholecystectomy in a high-complexity public hospital in Fortaleza, between January 2015 and December 2022 were included. The exclusion criteria were all patients who underwent cholecystectomy and had an established or presumed diagnosis of gallbladder neoplasia.

Results:  During the study period, 1,707 patients who underwent cholecystectomy with a diagnosis of cholelithiasis or cholecystitis have been found, 382 anatomopathological reports were lost and six patients with a previous diagnosis of gallbladder neoplasia were excluded, totaling 1,319 patients. Of these, nine (0.7%) were incidentally diagnosed with gallbladder adenocarcinoma after anatomopathological study.

Conclusion:  Corroborating the global literature, the prevalence of IBC in the present study was low and occurred more frequently in older female patients than those affected by benign bile duct disease.

Key words:
Gallbladder Diseases/epidemiology; Gallbladder Neoplasms/epidemiology; Cholecystolithiasis/surgery; Cholecystectomy