Cholecystitis Clinical Trials

Acute cholecystitis is common in elderly patients and becomes more frequent with increasing age. Standard treatment is laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LCC), but operative treatment may be associated with increased risk in older patients with substantial comorbidity or reduced tolerance of general anesthesia. Endoscopic ultrasound-guided gallbladder drainage (EUS-GBD) is a minimally invasive internal drainage procedure performed through the stomach or duodenum using endoscopic ultrasound guidance and a lumen-apposing metal stent. This approach may provide an alternative to operative treatment in selected elderly patients. The CHOICE study (CHolecystitis Outcomes in the Investigation of Cholecystectomy versus EUS-GBD) is a multicenter randomized controlled trial comparing EUS-GBD with LCC in patients aged 75 years or older with acute cholecystitis. Participants are randomly assigned to undergo either laparoscopic removal of the gallbladder or endoscopic ultrasound-guided internal gallbladder drainage. The objective of the study is to determine whether EUS-GBD provides clinically acceptable outcomes compared with standard operative treatment in this patient population. Participants are followed using medical record review and scheduled follow-up contacts.