Introduction:

Gallbladder carcinoma (GC), first described in 1777, ranks sixth in the frequency of malignancies in the gastrointestinal tract.

Objective:

To determine the prevalence and incidence of GC in patients after cholecystectomy at Hospital Angeles Pedregal.

Material and methods:

We conducted a descriptive, observational, retrospective, and cross-sectional study of clinical records of patients undergoing cholecystectomy, including a total of 6,954 cholecystectomies for thirteen years. Histological reports were collected and analyzed to obtain GC prevalence and incidence.

Results:

Sixteen patients of the 6,954 studied cases were diagnosed with GC (0.23%), with a prevalence of 0.23 cases per 100 cholecystectomies and with an incidence of 2.3 for every 1,000 subjects. Adenocarcinoma was the most common histopathological diagnosis with 15 cases, and only one neuroendocrine tumor. Preoperative GC diagnosis was suspected in only two of the 16 patients with malignancy (12.5%).

Conclusions:

The incidence of GC in our hospital is located below the lower limits reported in the literature. Preoperative suspicion is also under the rates estimated worldwide; therefore, ultrasound and computerized tomography can raise the percentage of preoperatively GC detection.