https://doi.org/10.4081/crest.2025.42

Gallbladder perforation following abdominal liposuction: case report of a radiological pitfall

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2025)
Submitted: April 23, 2025
Accepted: May 17, 2025
Published: May 20, 2025
Gallbladder trauma, liposuction, abdominal trauma, case report
Abstract Views: 47
PDF: 11
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

Alessandro Bergna
alessandro@bergna.eu
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6101-3989
Department of General Surgery, Humanitas San Pio X, Milan, Italy.
Gabriella Cappiello
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4039-7521
Department of General Surgery, Humanitas Clinical and Research Hospital, Rozzano, Italy.
Andrea Rusconi
https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2880-5900
Department of General Surgery, Humanitas San Pio X, Milan, Italy.
Ettore Lillo
https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7989-5613
Department of General Surgery, Humanitas San Pio X, Milan, Italy.
Anna Falvo
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2476-997X
Department of General Surgery, Humanitas Clinical and Research Hospital, Rozzano, Italy.
Massimo Amboldi
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5754-9761
Department of General Surgery, Humanitas San Pio X, Milan, Italy.
Leonardo Lenisa
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-9670-8702
Department of General Surgery, Humanitas San Pio X, Milan, Italy.
Teresa De Giorgi
Department of Radiology, Humanitas San Pio X, Milan, Italy.
Jacques Megevand
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1784-2848
Department of General Surgery, Humanitas San Pio X, Milan, Italy.

Liposuction is a widely performed aesthetic procedure. However, its potential for serious complications remains underestimated. We report a rare case of delayed liver trauma and gallbladder perforation in a 33-year-old woman following abdominal liposuction. After developing persistent abdominal pain, imaging revealed perihepatic fluid collections but failed to clearly identify a gallbladder injury. The clinical examinations suggested the presence of a localized peritonitis; therefore, an exploratory laparoscopy was performed, showing a minor hepatic injury and an active bile leakage from a gallbladder perforation, necessitating a laparotomic cholecystectomy. The patient recovered uneventfully. This case report underscores the importance of clinical judgment when imaging is inconclusive and highlights the role of diagnostic laparoscopy in the management of intra-abdominal injuries.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC
Ezzeddine H, Husari A, Nassar H, et al. Life threatening complications post-liposuction. Aesthetic Plast Surg 2018;42:384-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-017-1058-x
Soderstrom CA, Maekawa K, DuPriest RW Jr, Cowley RA. Gallbladder injuries resulting from blunt abdominal trauma: an experience and review. Ann Surg 1981;193:60-6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/00000658-198101000-00010
Thomson BNJ, Nardino B, Gumm K, et al. Management of blunt and penetrating biliary tract trauma. J Trauma Acute Care Surg 2012;72:1620-5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/TA.0b013e318248ed65
Ajlan AM, Alqahtani A, Kellow Z. Intracholecystic fat herniation in traumatic gallbladder perforation: a case report: A case report. J Comput Assist Tomogr 2009;33:408-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/RCT.0b013e3181824d44
Sharma O. Blunt gallbladder injuries: presentation of twenty-two cases with review of the literature. J Trauma 1995;39:576-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/00005373-199509000-00029
Niemeier OW. Acute free perforation of the gall-bladder. Ann Surg 1934;99:922-4. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/00000658-193499060-00005
Anderson BB, Nazem A. Perforations of the gallbladder and cholecystobiliary fistulae: a review of management and a new classification. J Natl Med Assoc 1987;79:393-9.
Coccolini F, Kobayashi L, Kluger Y, et al. Duodeno-pancreatic and extrahepatic biliary tree trauma: WSES-AAST guidelines. World J Emerg Surg 2019;14:56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13017-019-0278-6
Ball CG, Dixon E, Kirkpatrick AW, et al. A decade of experience with injuries to the gallbladder. J Trauma Manag Outcomes [Internet] 2010;4:3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-2897-4-3
Cinquantini F, Tugnoli G, Piccinini A, et al. Educational review of predictive value and findings of computed tomography scan in diagnosing bowel and mesenteric injuries after blunt trauma: Correlation with trauma surgery findings in 163 patients. Can Assoc Radiol J 2017;68:276-85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carj.2016.07.003
Joseph DK, Kunac A, Kinler RL, et al. Diagnosing blunt hollow viscus injury: is computed tomography the answer? Am J Surg 2013;205:414-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2012.12.003
Akay HO, Senturk S, Cigdem MK, et al. Isolated traumatic gallbladder rupture: US findings and the role of repeat US in diagnosis. Pediatr Radiol 2008;38:691-3. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-008-0759-3
Gagne S, O Sullivan-Murphy B, Lo HS, McIntosh LJ. Pancreaticobiliary trauma: A multimodality imaging update. Semin Ultrasound CT MR 2018;39:355-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1053/j.sult.2018.03.004
Tkacz JN, Anderson SA, Soto J. MR imaging in gastrointestinal emergencies. Radiographics 2009;29:1767-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1148/rg.296095509
Neugebauer EAM, Sauerland S. Guidelines for emergency laparoscopy. World J Emerg Surg [Internet] 2006;1:31 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1749-7922-1-31
Agresta F, Ansaloni L, Baiocchi GL, et al. Laparoscopic approach to acute abdomen from the Consensus Development Conference of the Società Italiana di Chirurgia Endoscopica e nuove tecnologie (SICE), Associazione Chirurghi Ospedalieri Italiani (ACOI), Società Italiana di Chirurgia (SIC), Società Italiana di Chirurgia d’Urgenza e del Trauma (SICUT), Società Italiana di Chirurgia nell’Ospedalità Privata (SICOP), and the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES). Surg Endosc 2012;26:2134-64. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-012-2331-3

How to Cite

Bergna, A., Cappiello, G., Rusconi, A., Lillo, E., Falvo, A., Amboldi, M., Lenisa, L., De Giorgi, T., & Megevand, J. (2025). Gallbladder perforation following abdominal liposuction: case report of a radiological pitfall. Case Reports in Emergency Surgery and Trauma, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/crest.2025.42
Copyright (c) 2025 the Author(s) Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.