ABSTRACT
A 12 year old boy is presented with choleithiasis and cholecystitis diagnosed by oral cholecistogram and intravenous cholangiogram and managed surgically with a cholecystectomy. A review of 667 cases of cholelithiasis in children is presented from literature, since the first report of gallstones in 1737, until 1975. It is showed that childhood cholelithiasis is a uncommon disease, occurring in all ages but (commoner) in preadolescent and adolescent girls. Etiologic significance of obesity, family history of cholelithiasis, pregnancy and history of previous abdominal surgery is reported. Haemolytic disease is an underlying etiologic agent in less than 19% of 416 cases reviewed. A high percentage of gallstones were visible on plain films of the abdomen and oral cholecystograms were diagnostic of cholelithiasis or showed changes highly suggestive of gallstones in 86% of cases reviewed. In a child with abdominal pain of unknown etiology, it is imperative to exculade the possibility of gallstones, and plain films of the abdomen and oral cholecystography are the best investigative techniques to do this.
