European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Aim: To assess the gallbladder volume in T2DM patients and in healthy controls by using Ultrasonography.
Methodology: This cases control study was conducted among 55 diabetic patients enrolled from the diabetes clinic of the RVM Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Centre, Laxmakkapally, Telangana, India and 55 healthy patients (control group). 30-60 year patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus diagnosed since 5 year or more and functioning gall bladder with well controlled blood sugar levels. The diagnosis of diabetes in these patients was in accordance with WHO criteria i.e., fasting plasma glucose level ≥126 mg/dl, and ≥200 mg/dl plasma glucose level after 2hr of ingestion of standardised 75 gm glucose. An informed consent was taken from all the subjects in the study and control groups. All the patients were randomly selected for the study among patients regularly attending diabetic clinic of this hospital and following our criteria’s of selection.
Results: Mean age of diabetic Patient was 48.5 years in study group and 53 years in control group. 45.5% of diabetics were males and remaining 54.5% were females, whereas in control group male to female ratio was equal, means 49% males and 50% females. 85.5% cases in control group had no gall bladder disease, while only 63.6% cases in group with diabetes had no gall bladder disease. In group with DM type 2, 20% had cholelithiasis, 9.1% had cholecystitis, and 7.3% had sludge: while in control group, 5.5% had cholelithiasis, 3.6% had cholecystitis, and 5.5% had sludge. The percentage of contraction of gall bladder had reduced markedly in chronic diabetics (45.6 + 9.57) as compared to controls (65.2 + 7.34) (p value- 0.001). The fasting gall bladder volume in chronic diabetics was higher (43.47 + 5.35) than that of controls (28.45 + 4.26) and the difference of values was found to be highly significant (p value 0.001).
Conclusion: In patients of diabetes mellitus type 2, higher fasting gall bladder volume and decreased percentage of contraction are observed. Therefore, all T2DM patients should be evaluated using ultrasonography for the presence of increased fasting gallbladder volumes to assess the risk of progression to gall stone disease.