Comparison of hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid scan results, preoperative symptoms, and final pathology results for patients who underwent cholecystectomy

Abstract Introduction The purpose of this study was to compare preoperative HIDA scans, ultrasound, and patients' symptoms with final surgical pathology on patients who underwent cholecystectomy. Methods A retrospective chart review was conducted on patients who underwent cholecystectomy between 1/1/2020 and 12/31/2022 at our local hospital. Data were collected on patient demographics, preoperative symptoms, gallbladder ultrasound results, HIDA scan results, and pathology results. Results A total of 116 patients met the study inclusion criteria. HIDA scan findings had a sensitivity of 80.4%, a specificity of 33.3%, and an AUC of 0.594, P= .482. For those with normal findings on HIDA scan, 83.3% had a pathological finding of chronic cholecystitis, 44.4% had cholesterolosis, and 26.3% had cholelithiasis. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the benefit of the HIDA scan appears to be in the presence of positive symptomology and negative ultrasound findings as HIDA scans are a relatively weak discriminator of positive pathology.