Clinicopathological study of cholelithiasis following gastric cancer surgery.

The purpose of this study was to compare liver function tests preoperatively and postoperatively in 2 cohorts of patients, those that developed gallstones after gastrectomy for cancer and those that did not develop gallstones. The cohorts were taken from 698 consecutive patients who underwent curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer between April 1980 and March 1995. In comparison with 698 patients, the gallstone group was characterized by the findings that the incidence of cholelithiasis was significantly higher in totally-gastrectomized patients and patients with upper stomach cancer. Comparison of the perioperative status revealed a significantly higher rate of complications in the gallstone patients. Analysis of the changes in liver function showed significantly higher values of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, glutamic pyruvic transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase at time points of 1 and 3 months after surgery in the gallstone patients. The results suggest that the postoperative development of liver dysfunction and complications is associated with the formation of gallstones.