Gasless Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy in a 7-Year-Old Boy with Neurofibromatosis Type I

Abstract

This report describes a case of a 7-year-old boy with cholelithiasis and neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), the association of which has not been described previously, to the author's knowledge. The patient had no other predisposing diseases to the development of cholelithiasis. His multiple small calcified gallstones were asymptomatic. For these asymptomatic stones, less invasive laparoscopic cholecystectomy using an abdominal wall lift method was successfully performed. In this technique, one of the trocars was substituted by a 14-gauge sheath through which needle-sized operating instruments were used. The scar at the needle sheath site disappeared completely soon after surgery. Gasless laparoscopic cholecystectomy using needle-sized instruments achieved a minimally invasive as well as a cosmetically satisfactory result.