This report describes a 76-year-old female who presented with progressive abdominal
pain, nausea and vomiting for 4 days. Abdominal ultrasound and computed
tomography of the abdomen and pelvis showed a distended small bowel, ascending
colon with collapse of the descending colon. Bowel obstruction was the tentative
preoperative diagnosis based on clinical symptoms and imaging studies. Gallbladder
volvulus with a gangrenous change was the definite diagnosis following a celiotomy.
Cholecystectomy was performed smoothly. The postoperative course was uneventful
and the patient was discharged 10 days after surgery. This case highlights the
difficulty of preoperative diagnosis for gallbladder volvulus; accurate diagnoses in
most cases are made intraoperatively in spite of currently available imaging studies.
Prompt management with open or laparoscopic cholecystectomy decreases the
mortality rate due to fatal complications resulting from gallbladder rupture.