Two Cases of Traumatic Gallbladder Perforation After Right-sided Flank Blows

Abstract

Gallbladder perforation after blunt abdominal trauma is rather rare. We encountered two cases of gallbladder perforation caused by a blow to the right flank. The first patient was a 77-year-old man with a history of blunt right flank trauma sustained 10 days earlier after a drinking bout. The second patient was an 86-year-old woman with a history of blunt flank trauma sustained during a fall several days before admission. The trauma in neither case was severe enough to allow immediate diagnosis of the gallbladder perforation. The two patients were operated 10 and 15 days after the injury, respectively, after a certain period of administration of antibiotics. Patients presenting with persistent pain and inflammatory findings after even mild blunt trauma to the right flank should be investigated by intraabdominal imaging to rule out perforation of the gallbladder.