Bronchial asthma, allergic rhinitis and cholecystectomy: An observational study

Abstract

Background: Gallbladder has not been associated with any allergic condition what so ever. However, certain patients with bronchial asthma and cholelithiasis have reported to the author improvement in their asthmatic attack after cholecystectomy.

Methods: This was an observational study on 22 bronchial asthma or allergic rhinitis cases that had undergone cholecystectomy. These patients had been followed up from three to nine years. A questionnaire had been filled by the patients as to the frequency of asthmatic or allergic rhinitis attacks and use of medication before and after cholecystectomy at the end of the follow up.

Results: Twenty (90.91%) of the patients showed improvement in the frequency of attacks and eight (36.36%) of the patients had no attacks after the cholecystectomy. Postoperatively, fifteen (68.18%) stopped medication and five (27.73%) decreased use of medication for bronchial asthma or allergic rhinitis.

Conclusion: Dramatic symptomatic improvement followed cholecystectomy in patients with bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis. . Intra-operative and or postoperative drugs or bile concentration cannot bring such a change. Drug effects cannot last the follow up period of 3-9 years and bile concentration cannot affect asthmatic or allergic rhinitis attacks. Therefore the improvement postoperatively can only be explained by removal of the gallbladder. Further studies into this hypothesis are recommended.