Acute cholecystitis is a frequent condition. Although cholecystectomy is the indicated treatment of this entity, it cannot be performed in some high-risk surgery patients, such as critically ill or those with multiple comorbidities. In these non-uncommon scenarios, percutaneous cholecystostomy is the recommended alternative treatment, which allows immediate decompression and drainage of the acutely inflamed gallbladder and thus reducing the patient's symptoms and the systemic inflammatory response. Ultrasound is the imaging method of choice to guide the percutaneous cholecystostomy procedure due to its real-time guidance, lack of ionizing radiation and portability, avoiding the need to transfer unhealthy patients to the radiology department. We will review the ultrasound-guided percutaneous cholecystostomy procedure, of special interest for radiologists, surgeons, and also intensive care and emergency physicians.
La colecistiti acuta é una malattia frequente. Benché la colecistectomia laparotomica sia una procedura validata essa non è idonea nella popolazione ad alto rischio, quali i pazienti critici o quelli con elevate comorbiditá. In tali categorie il trattamento percutaneo é la procedura suggerita consentendo di decomprimere la colecisti e ridurre i sintomi sirs correlati. La metodica eco assistita real time e la procedura di scelta in considerazione della assenza di radiazioni e la facilita´di esecuzione in ambiti extra radiologici. Descriveremo di seguito la tecnica di colecistostomia eco guidata di interesse radiologico, chirurgico e rianimatorio.
Keywords: Acute cholecystitis; Cholecystostomy; Interventional radiology; Ultrasonography.