Occult Cholecystitis

Abstract

Although somewhat exceptional, cases of occult cholecystitis are by no means rare. The authors report five cases to show that cholecystic disease and complications may be far more extensive and acute than symptoms and physical findings indicate.

Cholecystitis seems more frequently occult in patients more than 50 years of age, perhaps because they have a decreased sensitivity to pain.

Because of the occasionally insidious and occult development of acute cholecystitis and even of perforation of the gallbladder, cholecystectomy should be performed without undue delay whenever gallstones are detected.