Characteristics of diagnostic methods and risk predictors of gallstone disease and its complications

Abstract

Gallstone disease, cholelithiasis, is one of the most common pathologies of the hepatobiliary system. According to the Center for Medical Statistics of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, in recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of patients with cholelithiasis. Among the classic complications of Gallstone disease are acute and chronic cholecystitis, choledocholithiasis. In the diagnosis and treatment of cholelithiasis, clinical predictors are used to identify risk groups for choledocholithiasis. The aim. Evaluation of diagnostic methods for gallstone disease and its complications with the development of risk predictors for choledocholithiasis. Material and methods of the study: 100 patients were monitored during the period from 2019 to 2024. The average age was 54.25±12 years with a predominance of women by 2.03 times. Patients were divided into two groups: Group I consisted of patients with chronic calculous cholecystitis (n=60), Group II consisted of patients with choledocholithiasis (n=40). Results of the study and their discussion: Initial diagnostic examination for suspected choledocholithiasis includes abdominal ultrasound, which can detect stones in the bile ducts as an echogenic focus with a posterior acoustic shadow and dilated extra- and intrahepatic bile ducts due to a distal stone in the duct. When assessing the criteria for the probability of choledocholithiasis, clinical indicators, laboratory parameters and imaging data become criteria for the simultaneous detection of choledocholithiasis. Prognostic factors are divided into three main areas: clinical symptoms, blood test results and imaging studies. Conclusions: The use of clinical and laboratory data and instrumental research methods (ultrasound, MRCP, ERCP) allows us to divide the risk predictors of choledocholithiasis into high in 88.3%, moderate in 17.5% and low in 2.5% of patients in the preoperative period