Spontaneous Gallbladder Perforation in a Preterm Neonate

Abstract

Spontaneous gallbladder perforation among the pediatric population is a rare occurrence. The authors present a 26 week gestation white male with a history of Spontaneous bowel perforation and repair that presented with recurrent pneumoperitoneum. The patient was found upon laparotomy to have a perforation at the gallbladder fundus which was treated with tube cholecystostomy. A review of the current literature is provided.

Perforated gallbladder in neonates with review of literature

“…Niemeier classified perforation in gallbladder into three categories in 1934: type I, acute perforation in the free peritoneal cavity which agreed with reported case; type II, subacute perforation with abscess formation; and type III, chronic perforation with fistula formation between the gallbladder and other organs [ 13 , 14 ]. Open cholecystectomy is the treatment of choice in this condition where some surgeons preferred a tube cholecystostomy [ 6 , 10 ]. Surgical exploration and cholecystectomy was done in this case with no intraoperative complications [ 5 , 7 ].…”