Intraoperative Diagnosis of Gallbladder Agenesis: A Case Report

Gallbladder agenesis (GA) is an uncommon congenital anomaly with an incidence of 0.09%. Lack of awareness, coupled with vague clinical and radiological characteristics, has led to infrequent preoperative diagnosis. This is the case of a 42-year-old female who presented with right upper quadrant (RUQ) pain and features of obstructive jaundice. The patient was listed for open cholecystectomy and common bile duct (CBD) exploration for cholelithiasis and choledocholithiasis. At laparotomy, diagnosis of GA with adhesion bands tethering the duodenum to the common hepatic duct (CHD) resulting in biliary stricture, was made. Release of the adhesion bands (adhesiolysis) resulted in CHD stricture relaxation and complete biliary decompression.