Duplicate gallbladders misdiagnosed as residual cholecystitis: A case report and review of the literature

Rationale: Duplication of gallbladder is a rare anomaly in humans, as it is very rare for a duplication of gallbladder to be missed during the first cholecystectomy and thus require a second cholecystectomy.

Patient concerns: A 42-year-old man came to our hospital with paroxysmal right upper abdominal pain for 10 days. In addition to the pain, he also had transient jaundice. He had undergone laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) 1 year ago. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography showed gallstones, intrahepatic bile duct stones with cholangitis, no dilatation of the common bile duct, and a cystic structure was visible in the upper part of common bile duct. The patient underwent LC again, and the intraoperative diagnosis was duplication of gallbladder.

Diagnosis: The patient was diagnosed with duplication of gallbladder during surgery.

Interventions: The patient underwent LC again.

Outcomes: The patient underwent LC again, and was diagnosed with duplicated gallbladder during the operation. The operation was successful and the patient was discharged on the 5th day after the operation without other complications.

Lessons: Our case and literature review showed that there are no specific signs of duplicated gallbladders, and ultrasound has a low sensitivity for the diagnosis of double gallbladders, so double gallbladders are easily missed. Patients with double gallbladders may have multiple missed diagnoses during diagnosis and treatment, as in this case. When patients experience upper abdominal pain again after gallbladder removal, we should be alert and consider the possibility of duplicated gallbladders.