Abstract
We hypothesized that laser ablation of gallbladder epithelium would prevent gallstone formation in prairie dogs. An Er:YAG laser (lambda = 2.94 microns) was used to ablate the gallbladder epithelium of 24 prairie dogs; 20 sham-irradiated and 12 non-operated prairie dogs served as controls. Prairie dogs were sacrificed at time periods of 4 days, 2 weeks, and 8-12 weeks and evaluated for the presence of gallstones and cholesterol crystals. Laser-irradiated gallbladders demonstrated a lower rate of gallstone formation at 8-12 weeks than the sham-irradiated gallbladders (39% vs. 79%: P < .02). Crystal formation, however, was not different between laser-irradiated (88%) and sham-irradiated (100%) animals. The laser-irradiated group had less epithelium than the non-operated group at all time periods (P < or = .002) and compared to the sham-irradiated group at 4 days and 8-12 weeks (P < or = .001). These data suggest that laser ablation of gallbladder epithelium can reduce the rate of gallstone formation although this effect may be temporary.
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