Biliary ascariasis: an unusual cause of acute cholecystitis

Abstract

Ascariasis is one of the most common gastrointestinal parasitic infections in developing countries. In humans, these parasites reside in the jejunum but can lodge in any part of the small intestine and can migrate to the biliary tract. We present the case of a 45-year-old female patient, with no relevant history, from a rural town in Mexico, who presented to the emergency department for abdominal pain in the right hypochondrium, nausea and vomiting of one week's evolution, acute cholecystitis was suspected and an ultrasound of the liver and biliary tract was requested, which reported acute cholecystitis and ascaris was observed in the gallbladder, was evaluated by the general surgery service and cholecystectomy was performed, anthelmintic treatment was started, the patient was cured without complications and was discharged home after 48 hours.