Postoperative acute acalculous cholecystitis.

A 5-year experience with postoperative acute acalculous cholecystitis is reported. The series concerns 9 male patients ranging in age from 28 to 69 years, with a mean age of 46 years. All underwent major surgical procedures and complications appeared in the postoperative course. Clinically, 89% of patients developed sepsis and 66% jaundice. Klebsiella pneumoniae was the microorganism most frequently isolated from the blood, intraabdominal and wound fluid collections. It is emphasized that the diagnosis of this form should be clinical and it should be immediately suspected whenever intraabdominal signs develop. A review of the international literature on the subject is presented. The etiology and pathogenetic mechanisms of postoperative acute acalculous cholecystitis are discussed.