Correlation of Sonographic Measurements of the Gallbladder and somatometric variables in Primary School Age Pupils in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Abdominal ultrasound remains a vital and first choice imaging modality utilized in evaluation of gallbladder (GB) pathologies in children. With increasing report of shift in children nutritional habit and childhood obesity over the past few decades reportedly associated with increasing children and adolescents gallbladder diseases, the need to establish a sonographic normogram of GB in our locality for early detection and follow-up on children GB diseases is paramount. Objective: We aim to determine mean values for the GB size among primary school age pupils in Nigeria using ultrasonography and establish the association between GB parameters and subjects' age, sex, height, weight and body mass index (BMI). Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study of 400 apparently healthy primary school age pupils in selected schools, who met the inclusion criteria, was carried out. Uni-dimensional measurements of the maximal GB length, width and height dimensions were obtained. The volume of the GB in cm 3 was calculated from the ellipsoid formula. The subjects' height, weight, and BMI were measured using standard anthropometric technique. Results: GB length, height, width and volume in the studied population were 54.27 ± 6.80mm (Range: 37.0-75.0mm), 21.53 ± 2.93mm (Range:14.0-31.0mm), 23.46 ± 3.11mm (Range:16.0-36.0mm), 14.92 ± 5.51cm3 (Range: 4.3-38.7cm3) respectively. Gallbladder measurements correlated strongly with age, weight, height, and BMI. There was no significant correlation between gallbladder measurements and gender. Conclusion:Our study established a mean gallbladder size among healthy primary school age pupils in Nigeria. The gallbladder significantly increased in size as age and somatometric parameters increased with no significant difference in gallbladder size in relation to gender.