In a recent commentary from Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News (http://www.gastroendonews.com), Moshe Schein reviews a recent study regarding biliary dyskinesia (BD) (Am J Surg 2015; 209: 799-803) which highlights that almost 20% of cholecystectomies in the U.S. are for noncalculous disease.

Key points:

• The number of cholecystectomies for BD increased from 43.3 to 89.1 per 1 million between 1991-2011.
• BD is “almost unheard of” in all other parts of the world.  “The majority of surgeons practicing outside the United States maintain that BD is a myth…Measuring gallbladder ejection fraction is something that they never do.”

My take: this is an area in need of a large randomized controlled trial.  Perhaps biliary dyskinesia will share the same fate as sphincter of Oddi dysfunction.

Related blog posts:

• When A Disease Turns Out to Be Fictitious -The Sad Story on … (sphincter of Oddi dysfunction)

Jenny Lake, Grand Tetons

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