Efficacy and Validity of Percutaneous Transhepatic Gallbladder Drainage as a Bridge to Surgery for Octogenarian and Older Patients With Acute Cholecystitis: A Single-Center Retrospective Observational Study in Japan

Background Japan currently has a super-aged society, with a rapid increase in elderly patients in need of medical care. Determining treatment strategies for acute cholecystitis (AC) in very elderly patients with various comorbidities is often difficult. Although percutaneous cholecystostomy (PC) is a less-invasive treatment option, its impact on subsequent surgery remains debatable. This study investigated the validity of PC as a bridge to surgery in very elderly patients with AC. Methods Of 215 patients who underwent cholecystectomy for AC at our hospital, we retrospectively investigated 83 patients aged ≥80 years—53 and 30 who underwent upfront surgery (US) and PC before surgery, respectively—to assess the treatment strategies and clinical course. Results The PC group had a significantly worse systemic status at diagnosis than the US group, including age, severity grading, comorbidities, performance status, systemic inflammatory status, and blood coagulation abnormalities, which improved after PC. The elective surgery rate was significantly higher in the PC group than in the US group. Despite the high number of severe cases in the PC group, surgical quality indicators, including the conversion rate to open surgery, operative time, blood loss, and critical view of safety achievement rate, tended to be better in the PC group, without severe perioperative complications. Discussion PC followed by cholecystectomy improves preoperative conditions, including systemic inflammation status and blood coagulation abnormalities, in very elderly patients, allowing safe elective surgical treatment while securing the quality of surgery and clinical outcomes.