{"entity":{"id":"prophylactic-cholecystectomy","kind":"term","name":"Prophylactic (preventive) cholecystectomy","aka":["Preventive cholecystectomy","Chilean GES cholecystectomy programme"],"tldr":"Removing a gallbladder that contains stones before it causes trouble, in the hope of preventing a cancer that almost always arises in a gallbladder with stones. Chile has run a national programme since 2006.","summary":"Because nearly all gallbladder cancers arise in gallbladders with stones and chronic inflammation, high-incidence countries have considered removing stone-bearing gallbladders preventively. In 2006 Chile's Explicit Health Guarantees (GES) programme guaranteed cholecystectomy for symptomatic gallstones at ages 35 to 49; by 2024 it had issued 284,139 notifications. Evaluations find national mortality falling before and after the programme and a faster fall in the targeted age group, but no clear break in the trend, and areas of high incidence are not always the areas of high uptake. Whether the operation should be targeted by region, ancestry or risk score rather than by age is the live question.","asOf":"2026-09-24","links":[],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["gallbladder"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":["falp-chile"],"pathways":[],"terms":["screening","overdiagnosis","gallbladder-polyp"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-samaniego-chile-ges-programme-evaluation-rev-med-chile-2024","paper-mardones-frenz-chile-ges-mortality-rev-med-chile-2019"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"category":"Epidemiology & prevention"},"route":"/terms/prophylactic-cholecystectomy/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"gallbladder","kind":"cancer","name":"Gallbladder cancer","route":"/cancers/gallbladder/"}],"institution":[{"id":"falp-chile","kind":"institution","name":"Fundación Arturo López Pérez","route":"/institutions/falp-chile/"}],"term":[{"id":"gallbladder-polyp","kind":"term","name":"Gallbladder polyp (polypoid lesion)","route":"/terms/gallbladder-polyp/"},{"id":"overdiagnosis","kind":"term","name":"Overdiagnosis","route":"/terms/overdiagnosis/"},{"id":"screening","kind":"term","name":"Screening","route":"/terms/screening/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-mardones-frenz-chile-ges-mortality-rev-med-chile-2019","kind":"paper","name":"Changes in gallbladder cancer mortality and hospital discharges due to preventive cholecystectomy in Chile","route":"/key-papers/paper-mardones-frenz-chile-ges-mortality-rev-med-chile-2019/"},{"id":"paper-jshbps-biliary-tract-cancer-guidelines-2019-jhbps-2021","kind":"paper","name":"Clinical practice guidelines for the management of biliary tract cancers 2019: The 3rd English edition","route":"/key-papers/paper-jshbps-biliary-tract-cancer-guidelines-2019-jhbps-2021/"},{"id":"paper-cid-chile-programme-gallbladder-cancer-mortality-am-j-epidemiol-2024","kind":"paper","name":"Gallbladder cancer mortality in Chile: has the government program targeting young gallstone patients had an impact?","route":"/key-papers/paper-cid-chile-programme-gallbladder-cancer-mortality-am-j-epidemiol-2024/"},{"id":"paper-samaniego-chile-ges-programme-evaluation-rev-med-chile-2024","kind":"paper","name":"Gallbladder Cancer: Is It Time to Modify the Explicit Health Guarantees (GES) Program?","route":"/key-papers/paper-samaniego-chile-ges-programme-evaluation-rev-med-chile-2024/"},{"id":"paper-koshiol-salmonella-typhi-gallbladder-cancer-cancer-med-2016","kind":"paper","name":"Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi and gallbladder cancer: a case-control study and meta-analysis","route":"/key-papers/paper-koshiol-salmonella-typhi-gallbladder-cancer-cancer-med-2016/"},{"id":"paper-nagaraja-eslick-typhi-carrier-gallbladder-cancer-meta-analysis-apt-2014","kind":"paper","name":"Systematic review with meta-analysis: the relationship between chronic Salmonella typhi carrier status and gall-bladder cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-nagaraja-eslick-typhi-carrier-gallbladder-cancer-meta-analysis-apt-2014/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"gallbladder-cancer-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Gallbladder cancer roadmap: from a chance finding at gallstone surgery to a disease with its own trials","route":"/roadmaps/gallbladder-cancer-roadmap/"}],"idea":[{"id":"idea-gbc-typhoid-carrier-cholecystectomy-or-surveillance","kind":"idea","name":"Cholecystectomy or ultrasound surveillance for chronic typhoid carriers in endemic regions","route":"/ideas/idea-gbc-typhoid-carrier-cholecystectomy-or-surveillance/"},{"id":"idea-gbc-prophylactic-cholecystectomy-targeted-and-evaluated","kind":"idea","name":"Redesign Chile's prophylactic cholecystectomy programme around risk, and evaluate it properly","route":"/ideas/idea-gbc-prophylactic-cholecystectomy-targeted-and-evaluated/"},{"id":"idea-gbc-risk-targeted-ultrasound-in-high-incidence-regions","kind":"idea","name":"Risk-targeted ultrasound screening in high-incidence regions, tested against usual care","route":"/ideas/idea-gbc-risk-targeted-ultrasound-in-high-incidence-regions/"}]}}