Table 3.
Indications for “prophylactic” cholecystectomy (i.e., asymptomatic gallstone patients bearing a high risk of becoming symptomatic)
| Children (because they are exposed to the long-term physical presence of stones[58]) |
| Morbid obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery (high risk to become symptomatic during rapid weight loss[62]) |
| Increased risk for gallbladder cancer[63] |
| Patients with large gallstones (greater than 3 cm)[64,65] |
| A “porcelain” gallbladder[66] or gallbladder polyps rapidly growing or larger than 1 cm |
| Native Americans with gallstones (risk of gallbladder cancer 3 to 5 percent)[67] |
| Gallstone patients with sickle cell anemia (formation of calcium bilirubinate gallstones due to chronic hemolysis. Patients may become symptomatic with recurrent episodes of abdominal pain[68]) |
| Coexistence of small gallstones and gallbladder dysmotility (increased risk of pancreatitis[47]) |