Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of incidental pathologies detected in the surgical specimens of patients who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy in high-volume referral center, which accepts patients from different regions of our country, and to contribute to epidemiological studies. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Male and female patients over 18 years of age who underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy between July 2010 and May 2019 were included in the study. All surgical specimens were taken for pathologic examination. The pathology results were classified into three categories: Benign pathologies (including cholecystitis, non-neoplastic lesions and benign tumors), premalignant pathologies and malignant pathologies. RESULTS: The study included a total of 8148 patients. The mean age was 49.74±14.51 years (minimum 18, maximum 94) and 72.2% of the patients were female. Benign pathologies included cholecystitis in 1742 (21.4%), non-neoplastic lesions in 6203 (76.1%) and benign tumors in 12 (0.1%), premalignant pathologies in 173 (2.1%) and malignant pathologies in 18 (0.2%). Although no statistically significant gender difference was observed between benign, premalignant and malignant pathologies, the incidence of premalignant and malignant pathologies increased with age (p=0.273, p<0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: In this study of 8148 patients, incidental premalignant and malignant pathologies were identified in 2.1% and 0.2% of cases, respectively, which is consistent with the findings of literature. These results may be instructive for epidemiologic studies.