Evaluation of Pediatric Cases With Cholelithiasis: 5-Year Single-Center Experience

Abstract

Gallstones are sometimes detected as a cause of a clinical finding in children and sometimes incidentally. This study aimed to investigate the demographic and clinical characteristics of pediatric patients with gallstones. Pediatric cases diagnosed with gallstones between 2017 and 2023 in a tertiary hospital were retrospectively examined. A total of 65 patients were included in the study. The mean age of the cases was 10.8 ± 5.3 years, and 44 (67.7%) were adolescents. The most common complaint of the cases was abdominal pain (60%), and 33.8% were diagnosed incidentally. Obesity was the most frequently identified cause (26.2%) and was significantly higher in adolescents. Forty-five (69.2%) cases were symptomatic, and 10 (15.3%) were complicated. This study found that the frequency of gallstones in children increases with age, and that the underlying cause is likely to be obesity as age increases. Clinicians should avoid medications that may cause gallstones in obese adolescents.