A CASE OF TRAUMATIC NEUROMA OF THE GALLBLADDER IN THE ABSENCE OF PREVIOUS SURGERY AND CHOLELITHIASIS

We experienced a patient with traumatic neuroma of the gallbladder wit h no history of gallbladder surgery or cholelithiasis. A 74-year-old m an was referred to our department after a gallbladder tumor was incide ntally discovered during a preoperative screening examination for pros tate hypertrophy. Ultrasonography, MRI, CT and endoscopic retrograde c holangiography revealed a protuberant lesion of the gallbladder. Lapar oscopic cholecystectomy was attempted but adhesion between the liver a nd duodenum forced us to convert to open laparotomy. Cholecystectomy a nd adjacent liver tissue resection was performed. Diagnosis was made b y frozen histology during operation. It revealed no malignancy. Postop erative pathological examination revealed traumatic neuroma associated with inflammation. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of gallbladder neuroma without a history of gallstones or surgery in t he English and Japanese literature since 1980. This traumatic neuroma should be considered in a differential diagnosis in treating gallbladd er neoplasm, even in the absence of an operative history or cholelithi asis.