One case is reported and 14 others are culled from the literature. Each patient experienced an intraperitoneal abscess with a gallstone nidus following laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Each required open surgical drainage weeks or months after the initial laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
The natural biology of spilled intraperitoneal gallstones is not known. Two short-term animal studies suggest initial partial lysis and fibrotic encapsulation.
At least 15% of completed laparoscopic cholecystectomies leave intraperitoneal gallstones. Almost all prove to be clinically innocuous but the rare instances of later intraabdominal abscess formation deserve recognition and reporting.
Key words Spilled gallstones - Abdominal abscess - Laparoscopic cholecystectomy