Accuracy of surgeon-performed gallbladder ultrasound

Background: Symptomatic cholelithiasis is among the most common of general surgery referrals. With an appropriate clinical presentation, definitive diagnosis requires documentation of gallstones by ultrasonography (US). The authors evaluated the accuracy of surgeon-performed US for identifying gallstones in patients with a nonacute indication for study. Methods: Patients referred for symptomatic cholelithiasis and who provided informed consent received an US examination by one or more of the surgical investigators. Surgeon-performed US findings were correlated with radiologist US findings and pathologic diagnoses. Results: Seventy-seven patients received a total of 128 examinations by the investigators. Surgeon-performed US examination agreed with the radiologist US findings for 112 of 122 studies (92%) with a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 95%. Surgeon-performed US findings correlated with the pathologic diagnoses for 83 of 86 studies (97%). Conclusions: Surgeons can perform gallbladder US in the nonacute setting with a high degree of accuracy.