eMedicine Specialties > Radiology > Gastrointestinal

Cholelithiasis: Follow-up

Author: Jacqueline C Brunetti, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Radiology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Medical Director, Department of Radiology, Holy Name Hospital
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: May 7, 2009

Intervention

Medicolegal Pitfalls

  • Failure to take precautions to ensure optimal US examination of the gallbladder in all patients (since US is the screening procedure for cholelithiasis, and medical liability is incurred through misdiagnosis)
  • Failure to meet standard of care, which requires imaging a fasting gallbladder patient (with the highest frequency transducer possible) from the cystic duct to the distal fundus with changes in patient position
  • Failure to note in the descriptive report any technical limitations that are encountered during an examination
  • Failure to be alert to unusual conditions, such as agenesis of the gallbladder, anomalous gallbladder position, and duplication of the gallbladder
  • Failure to carefully assess the gallbladder wall (gallbladder cancer is increasingly associated with cholelithiasis)
  • Failure to recommend correlation with other imaging studies when US findings are questionable or suboptimal
 


More on Cholelithiasis

Overview: Cholelithiasis
Imaging: Cholelithiasis
Follow-up: Cholelithiasis
Multimedia: Cholelithiasis
References
Further Reading
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Further Reading

Clinical guidelines

 ACR Appropriateness Criteria® right upper quadrant pain.
American College of Radiology - Medical Specialty Society.  1996 (revised 2005).  5 pages.  [NGC Update Pending] NGC:004781

ASGE guideline: the role of ERCP in diseases of the biliary tract and the pancreas.
American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy - Medical Specialty Society.  2005 Jul.  8 pages.  NGC:004486

Ultrasonographic examinations: indications and preparation of the patient.
Finnish Medical Society Duodecim - Professional Association.  2000 Apr 18 (revised 2007 Jan 11).  Various pagings.  NGC:005501

Clinical trials

 Laparoendoscopic Rendez Vous Versus Standard Two Stage Approach for the Management of Cholelithiasis/Choledocholithiasis

Minimally Invasive Surgery: Using Natural Orfices

Gallbladder Cholesterolosis, Body Mass Index and Serum Cholesterol and Triglycerides

Related eMedicine topics

 Cholelithiasis (Radiology)

Cholelithiasis (Emergency Medicine)

Cholelithiasis (Pediatrics)

Biliary Colic

Biliary Obstruction

 




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Keywords

cholelithiasis, cholecystolithiasis, gallstones, calculi, gallbladder disease, digestive disorder, biliary microlithiasis, biliary sludge, microliths, milk of calcium bile, calcium carbonate precipitate

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Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Jacqueline C Brunetti, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Radiology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Medical Director, Department of Radiology, Holy Name Hospital
Jacqueline C Brunetti, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Radiology and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

John L Haddad, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University; Director of Body MRI, Department of Radiology, Methodist Hospital in Houston
John L Haddad, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Radiology, American Medical Association, and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Bernard D Coombs, MB, ChB, PhD, Consulting Staff, Department of Specialist Rehabilitation Services, Hutt Valley District Health Board, New Zealand
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Managing Editor

Arnold C Friedman, MD, FACR, Associate Chairman, Department of Radiology, University of Florida Health Science Center; Chief, Department of Radiology, Shands-Jacksonville Hospital
Arnold C Friedman, MD, FACR is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Radiology, American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine, American Roentgen Ray Society, Association of University Radiologists, and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

Robert M Krasny, MD, Consulting Staff, Department of Radiology, Resolution Imaging Medical Corporation
Robert M Krasny, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Roentgen Ray Society and Radiological Society of North America
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Chief Editor

John Karani, MBBS, FRCR, Clinical Director of Radiology and Consultant Radiologist, Department of Radiology, King's College Hospital, London
John Karani, MBBS, FRCR is a member of the following medical societies: British Institute of Radiology, British Society of Interventional Radiology, Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe, European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology, European Society of Radiology, Radiological Society of North America, and Royal College of Radiologists
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

 
 
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