Introduction: Hypothyroidism is said to cause biliary stasis and impaired cholesterol metabolism thereby leading to the formation of gallstones. The incidence of thyroid dysfunction in patients with cholelithiasis has been studied in the past, but with inconclusive results. Hence, in this study, we have tried to assess if there is an association between thyroid profile and cholelithiasis with respect to age, gender, BMI and Lipid profile.
Settings and Design: This study was a prospective observational study conducted at Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute, Pondicherry.
Methods and Material: Thyroid profile and Fasting Lipid Profile (FLP) was done for all patients, once diagnosed to have Cholelithiasis by USG Abdomen, attending the General Surgery OPD, above the age of 18. Final results were tabulated and a correlation of incidence of thyroid dysfunction with that of cholelithiasis was determined.
Results: Out of the 60 patients, 63.3% were females and 36.7% were males. 63.3% of the patients were found to be euthyroid, 31.7% were found to be hypothyroid and only 5% were found to be hyperthyroid. Among the hypothyroid patients, 53.7% had subclinical hypothyroidism. Increasing age was significantly negatively associated (p=0.017) with the risk of developing hypothyroidism (reduced risk of 7%). As compared to males, females had a 19% reduced risk of developing hypothyroidism but this was however not statistically significant.
Conclusions: This study concludes that there was no significant association between thyroid dysfunction and cholelithiasis, but there was a reduced risk of developing hypothyroidism in cholelithiasis patients with increasing age and of the female gender. However, further large group studies will be required to come to a final conclusion regarding the same.
Key words: Cholelithiasis, Hypothyroidism, Thyroid Profile
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