Cholelithiasis in Childhood: A Cohort Study in North of Iran

Objective: Cholelithiasis rarely occurs in children but the increased use of ultrasonography has led to increased detection of gallstones in patients. The epidemiology and predisposing factors of cholelithiasis vary in different populations. The aim of this study was to describe the clinical presentation, predisposing factors and to evaluate management and outcome of patients referred to Amirkola Children’s Hospital jn Babol.
Methods: This cohort study was performed on children with cholelithiasis referred during 2000 to 2011. Cholelithiasis was diagnosed with ultrasonography. The data was obtained based on history, physical exam, clinical and paraclinical investigations and analyzed by SPSS version 18. P-value <0.05 was considered being significant.
Findings: From the 66 patients with cholelithiasis, 39 (59.1%) were males. The mean age at diagnosis was 6.6±4.5 years. The most common predisposing factor included ceftriaxone therapy (27.3%), hemolytic diseases (13.6%), hepatobiliary diseases (7.5%) and cystic fibrosis (7.5%). In 30.3% of patients, no predisposing factor was detected. The most common complaint was abdominal pain (67%). Among the patients in whom abdominal X-Ray was performed, only 20% had radiopaque gallstones; 6 (9%) patients underwent cholecystectomy.
Conclusion: According to this study, ceftriaxone therapy and hemolytic diseases were the most common predisposing factors in children with cholelithiasis in our area and cholecystectomy had not been needed in most patients.