Abstract
Colonoscopy is a commonly used endoscopic technique and the number of patients being examined by this method is continually growing. Although relatively safe, it has a number of complications associated with sedation, preparation for examination, and the procedure itself, especially when it is performed for therapeutic interventions.
The most common complications are pain during and after the procedure and bleeding. We present a report of four patients from our department who developed cholelithiasis complications during preparation for colonoscopy and during colonoscopy itself.
Two cases were acute cholecystitis, one case was acute biliary pancreatitis, and one case was cholecystitis with pericholecystitis. According to information available in the literature, the de novo formation of stones in the gallbladder during colonoscopy preparation is probably a complication of previous asymptomatic cholelithiasis.
Stone formation is accentuated by bowel preparation before colonoscopy, which causes hypohydration and creates a lithogenic environment in the gallbladder. Clinical signs usually occurred within 72 hours after endoscopy in our patients.
According to the literature, cholecystectomy is the best therapy, and no patients has ever died as a result of cholelithiasis complications during colonoscopy.