The morbidity rate of gallstone disease in the patients of senile age

Abstract

Objective — to determine the morbidity rate of biliary tract pathology in senile patients for prognosis of their possible medical needs.Materials and methods. During the first half of 2019, all patients aged 75 years or older, who were hospitalized for planned treatment in the therapeutic, cardiological or neurologic departments of multidisciplinary hospital, were offered to perform the abdominal ultrasound examination. The examination was performed on a mid‑range scanner from one of the international branded manufacturers after standard patients’ preparation. Totally 236 patients aged 76 — 93 years were examined, the mean age of the examined patients was 80.28 ± 0.23 years. Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive statistics using the MedStat computer program.Results. Among the examined patients, 97 were men (41.1 %), the mean age of 80.05 ± 0.35 years, and 139 (58.9 %) women with the mean age 80.45 ± 0.31 years. The statistical difference between the mean age of the surveyed men and women was not significant (p = 0.33). The prevalence of gallstone disease among senile patients was significant. In particular, in 16 patients one gallbladder stone with sizes from 4 to 32 mm was detected, in 29 patients — two or more stones with sizes from 3 to 24 mm. In 6 patients, it was ascertained that the gallbladder was completely filled with concrements with sonographic signs of a dysfunctional bladder. The proportion of patients with gallbladder stones accounted for 21.6 % of the total number of patients in the group. Form patients with the diagnosed gallstone disease, women prevailed — (30 (58.8 %)), but the incidence of gallstone disease exposure in the subgroups of men and women was the same (21.6 %). Among the examined patients, cholecystectomy was performed in 55 (23.3 %). The proportion of women with the removed gallbladder significantly exceeded that of men (74.5 %, or 29.5 % of all women examined).Conclusions. The proportion of senile patients with gallstones disease was 21.6 %, without gender differences in the gallstone disease incidence; 23.3 % of patients were undergone cholecystectomy during the lifetime. The cholecystectomy rate was twofold higher in the subgroup of women in comparison with men (29.5 % vs. 14.4 %, respectively). Almost every second elderly patient needs monitoring for existing or already operated gallstones with the need for periodic sonographic evaluation of the biliary system.