Abstract
The aim is in this study to evaluate the clinicopathological characteristics, surgical procedures, and the long-term outcome of patients with incidental gallbladder carcinoma (IGBC). We performed a retrospective cohort study of 11 IGBC and 26 non-IGBC (NIGBC) patients who underwent curative resection from 2004 to 2014. Most IGBC was located at the neck of the gallbladder and was a flat invasive tumor type. The proportion of IGBC patients who underwent bile duct resection was significantly higher than that of NIGBC patients. All 4 IGBC patients with flat invasive type tumors located at the neck received bile duct resection due to involvement of the cystic duct. The 5-year recurrence-free survival rates of patients in the NIGBC and IGBC groups were 45.8 and 81.8%, respectively (p=0.045). Most importantly, the IGBC patients receiving radical cholecystectomy with bile duct resection had a good prognosis. Because IGBC was more likely to be flat invasive type located at the neck of the gallbladder, surgeons should perform the best surgical management, including bile duct resection, considering the possibility of involvement of the cystic duct margins.
