One Hole, Two Tubes, and a Tijuana Pathology Report: A Case Report of Cholecystoduodenal Fistula Mistaken for Gallbladder Cancer

Abstract

We report a case of a patient who presented with biliary colic while in Tijuana, Mexico. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy was attempted but abandoned and only a biopsy of the gallbladder was performed with pathologist reporting gallbladder adenocarcinoma. Upon return to the United States, extensive evaluation was undertaken including imaging, biopsy, and ultimately two separate exploratory surgeries revealing no neoplasm. Only at the second surgical exploration did we discover a benign cholecystoduodenal fistula successfully treated with completion fenestration cholecystectomy, pyloric exclusion, loop gastrojejunostomy, and duodenostomy tube through the gallbladder remnant into the fistula itself. This is a unique surgical treatment of a rare problem made even more confusing by an erroneous pathology report from another country.