ObjectiveTo analyze the causes of preoperative misdiagnosis of primary gallbladder carcinoma, and the effective measures of prevention of the misdiagnosis.
MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical records of 52 cases with primary gallbladder carcinoma that had been treated in our hospital in 10 years,and analyzed the causes of misdiagnosis.
ResultsNineteen cases were diagnosed preoperatively(36.5%), while 33 cases were misdiagnosed before operation(63.5%), including misdiagnsed as cholecystolithiasis in 13 cases, gallbladder polyps in 8cases, atrophic cholecystitis in 4cases, hepatic hilar cholangiocarcinoma in 3 cases, tumor of liver in 4 cases,and Mirizzi syndrome in 1 case.There were 29 cases diagnosed during operation(55.8%),and 4 cases misdiagnosed intratoperatively（7.7%）. Misdiagnosis was due to several reasons:complicated with other gallbladder disease, lack of distinctive clinical features of gallbladder carcinoma, over dependence on imaging methods,and not doing fast frozen section during operation in dubious cases.
ConclusionsIn suspected cases with high risk of gallbladder cancer,imaging studies should be performed,and, if necessary, invasive studies and even exploratory laparotomy should be done. Also,intraoperative rapid frozen section can result in early discovery and treatment,and is conducive to improvement of prognosis of gallbladder carcinoma.