• Agostino Di Ciaula, Emilio Molina-Molina, Leonilde Bonfrate, David Q-H Wang, Dan L Dumitrascu, and Piero Portincasa.
• Division of Internal Medicine, Hospital of Bisceglie, ASL BAT, Bisceglie, Italy.
• Eur. J. Clin. Invest. 2019 Mar 1; 49 (3): e13066e13066.

Background And AimSeveral gallstone patients complain of dyspeptic symptoms, irrespective of the presence of typical colicky pain. Symptoms often persist after a cholecystectomy. Systematic studies on dyspepsia and dynamic gastrointestinal motor function are missing in gallstone patients with preserved gallbladder or after a cholecystectomy.Materials And MethodsForty-six gallstone patients (age 55 ± 2 years; 15M, 31F) and 24 cholecystectomized patients (age 57 ± 2 years; 6M, 18F) (no difference in type and volume of gallstones between the two groups) were compared against a group of 65 healthy controls (age 51 ± 2 years; 30M, 35F). Dyspepsia occurring in the prior months was assessed by a questionnaire, gastric and gallbladder emptying by functional ultrasonography and orocecal transit time by a hydrogen breath test using a lactulose-enriched standard liquid meal.ResultsGallstone patients had significantly greater dyspepsia, fasting and residual gallbladder volumes, and slower gallbladder emptying, gastric emptying and small intestinal transit time than controls. In cholecystectomized patients, gastric emptying further delayed, compared to gallstone patients and controls.ConclusionGallstone patients with the gallbladder "in situ" or after a cholecystectomy display dyspeptic symptoms. Symptoms are associated with multiple gastrointestinal motility defects involving the gallbladder, stomach and small intestine. After cholecystectomy, gastric emptying worsens.© 2018 Stichting European Society for Clinical Investigation Journal Foundation.

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